Feeling Thankful in Spite of Life's Trials

My daughter, Jessica, with my 5-year-old granddaughter, Ellie.

I hope you had a happy and blessed Thanksgiving. I had planned to write a nice Thanksgiving day post and have it posted by early this morning. However, life doesn't always go as planned, and this year was one of those years.

On Tuesday, one of my granddaughters, 5-year-old Penelope, was admitted to Valley Children's Hospital with suspected appendicitis. After a lot of tests, it was determined that her appendix had already ruptured, and she had quite a nasty infection. Right now, they are treating her with IV antibiotics and trying to get the infection under control enough to operate, but the whole recovery process will probably take a few months. I never realized how complicated treating such an infection is in a child.

My daughter Jessica spent Thanksgiving with Ellie today at the hospital while the rest of the family celebrated at home without them. This included my daughter's husband, David, and their three other daughters, Scarlett, Colette, and Genevieve. After we all ate, David and the girls headed to the hospital to take Thanksgiving dinner to Jess and to visit Ellie. (Ellie still isn't feeling well enough to eat.) Until Ellie is out of the hospital the rest of the family will be pitching in to help with her siblings and also driving back and forth to Fresno to visit her.


Even though Ellie is still feeling pretty bad, we are thankful that she is under the excellent care of the doctors and staff of VCH, and we are so grateful that her illness was caught in time to treat it. And we are so thankful to the many doctors, nurses, and other staff who are giving their time to care for Ellie and all the other sick children this Thanksgiving. This illness has been a lesson in how life can change in an instant, and we should be grateful for our blessings, big and small.

I'm so thankful for my family and friends and my animals that I love so much. And I'm grateful for my clients who have given such great homes to the Maremmas and goats I breed. But I will admit that sometimes, when life gets rough and scary, like this illness with Ellie, I question if I should even be running this business. Yes, I love what I do, but does it matter enough to devote so much time and work to this business when my family needs me?

Then, today, I received a text from Dave, a client in Texas who bought two Maremma pups from me in September. Reading Dave's words, I know that what I am doing matters--a lot. And I know that I can do both. I can be there for my family and continue breeding amazing animals for wonderful clients like Dave. It's just a matter of being flexible and finding the balance. Sometimes, life throws unexpected obstacles our way, but if we keep focusing on what matters, we can work through them.

Wishing you all a very blessed Thanksgiving!