As you may know, once a month I blog about gratitude.  I make a list of some of the things that make me happy, and the list’s number always matches the date.  

Today is the 25th, and here is my list.

I would love to hear your list.  Can you share?

Respectfully submitted, –Nathaniel

See below.

1. Calabacitas con queso.  This is one of my favorite Mexican dishes, little squashes with cheese.  Also with corn and onion and garlic.  I made it for my daughter Dorah today.  At first she said she wasn’t hungry, but she ate it all—and with a smile.
2. Eating it all.
3. Smiles.
4. Facebook likes.  I am ashamed to admit it, but I am grateful for those little thumbs-up.
5. The text message I just received, telling me that my friend is “out of surgery and doing well.”
6. Text messages, medicine and courage.
7. The Father’s Day gifts I received.
8. The setting of the sun.
9. And the rising of the same.
10. Knowing the right thing to say at the right moment.  And also recognizing when I do not.
11. Facebook “friend requests” from my kids.  They’re getting so big and so savvy.  And they want me to be their “friend.”
12. Wondering how many English words have two-v’s in a row, like in “savvy.”
13. Friends.
14. The part of my daily run where I jump down the steps and then duck under the palm tree in my way.  It makes me feel alive.
15. Feeling alive.
16. The gratitude I feel for the realities of mobility, freedom and security that enable me to run.  I have lived in places—and I know people who live in places—where this is not the reality.
17. Not taking things for granted.
18. When a random sound triggers a common-memory in uncommon ways.  For example, this afternoon, Dorah and I both heard a car pass my apartment.  The car had a glass-pack, and without skipping a beat, we both said, “Uncle Tom?” recalling his car and its noisy approach.
19. The common and uncommon.
20. A phone call from a friend who is calling to say: “I’m just checking in.”
21. Being “present” with the fact that the “present” is only temporary, and learning to embrace its magic without being trapped within its temporal nature.
22. Knowing that it’s okay to be sad.
23. Knowing that it’s okay to be happy.
24. The notions of blessing and of glory and of honor.
25. My kids.