Community Chest

I LOVE the community we live in. Tonight we had a community dinner to celebrate Thanksgiving. It. Was. AWESOME.

One of the elder members of our group played the Sitar and sang a song giving thanks for all our blessings... that she had written herself. It was off tune. Her voice cracked often. Yet, it was moving and lovely that she wanted to share it with all of us.

Another older gentleman gave a blessing that was heartfelt and pithy.

We had Turkey and Ham. We had stuffing, dressing and sweet potato casserole. There was macaroni and cheese, green bean casserole and broccoli cheese rice. Oh there was so much more. The food was great.

The company was even better. I watched as everyone went from table to table conversing about the holidays, their kids or whatever came to mind. I found myself being called from table to table, group to group, only to hear the same question.

"How much weight HAVE you lost? You're looking SO much better."

First, it shocked me that so many were asking. Then I started thinking about it. Many of these folks have known me since I was a senior in high school. That's 22 YEARS. They've seen me gain weight, get married, gain more weight, have a kid, gain MORE weight, get separated from my husband, gain MORE weight, get back with my husband and... yes.. you guessed it... GAIN MORE WEIGHT. Bleh. OF COURSE they're noticing me loose it.

I have to say, it felt pretty damn good to say, "I've lost 53 lbs since July." I couldn't stop grinning. I have a LOT to be thankful for this year. The most important is the silent support and cheering section I have. I know they're out there rooting for me to loose all the weight I want and it feels great.