Thanksgiving always brings up memories of the many blessings I have in life – family, health, friends and a roof over my head. But there are many times I’ve not been thankful or happy, and from that unhappiness has come understanding.  I’m also thankful, a bit reluctantly, for gridlock traffic. When I’m sitting there, red taillights as far as the eye can see, I can practically feel my blood pressure hitting the roof.

But as I calm down, I have time to think about issues in my life, and I can usually come up with a solution or two. If that doesn’t work, I slide a CD into the player and sing along with Barbra or Josh as loud as I can, hoping someone will look at me like I’m crazy.

Whenever I’m looking for songs on the car radio, it’s aggravating scanning through songs with screaming lead singers or profanity. But then I’ll come across a song and my finger pauses on the seek button. John Denver’s “Sunshine” takes me back to a parking lot in college where dozens of us played that song as loud as we could on our transistor radios, all of us appreciating the beautiful day there in Hammond, Louisiana when we were young and idealistic and full of dreams.

For years, I was angry with myself for not finishing my college degree when I was 18 and carefree. I want to shake some sense into that young girl because years later, she’d have to go to school and work full time to get a college degree. But the years between 18 and 45 were spent accumulating life experiences, having children and realizing I didn’t know everything. As humbling as it was to go back to school with teenagers, I was thankful I had life experiences to add to that college degree.

Although I’m never thankful for housework, there’s a difference in picking up after our grandchildren visit. The place looks like a hurricane blew through after they’ve gone home. But as we put toys away, every one reminds us of the fun we had while they were here. The baby doll I found underneath the blanket is one our youngest granddaughter has to sleep with while she’s here. My heart melts when I picture her snuggled up under the blanket my mom made for her, that baby tucked underneath her chin. The Legos hiding underneath the bed remind us of the fun our eldest grandson has whenever he’s creating a superhero’s castle. The bigger Legos are a reminder that his little brother is learning how to build from the grand master.

I always find art work from our eldest granddaughter on her drawing table, and I marvel at her artistic ability and the way she always makes heart-felt cards for her mom. Looking through the papers, I love seeing the inventive worlds she’s created with a few colored pencils and markers.

I’m never grateful for the dirty dishes on the counter after a family get together, but those dishes remind me of cleaning up after Sunday dinners at my grandparents’ house. My grandfather would wash the dishes, the aunts would dry and we’d take turns putting everything away. After the kitchen was completely clean, we’d all sit down for dessert and the adults would talk for what seemed like hours. Although much of the conversation was way over my head, their voices were comforting and reassuring, and I’m so glad I have those memories.

I’ve had lots of supervisors over the years, and there were two who made life difficult. I wasn’t thankful I had to work for them, but when I finally worked for people who treated me as a person, not a servant, I was thankful I had the comparison. I might not have appreciated those great bosses unless I’d had the awful ones.

So this Thanksgiving, I’m thankful for the experiences I never thought I’d ever put in the “plus” column of my life. Without them, I don’t know if I’d truly be able to count my blessings.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!

This column was originally published in The Fort Bend Herald.