It’s Thankful Thursday, a weekly pause to express appreciation for people, places, things and more.
Like a confession, I’ll admit it’s been nearly a year since my last appreciation. My gratitude has been a bit spotty and consists mostly of pleading whispers to get me through this. But because attention attracts gratitude and gratitude expands joy, I keep trying.
On this Thankful Thursday, I am grateful for this card (above) from a friend, sent by old-fashioned mail, which is a gratitude itself.
Enclosed, this explanation:
The cards are made by Cartiera Amatruda from Almafi, Italy. They have been making papers since 1380 and still today use many traditional methods developed in the Middle Ages. Quotes are typed by hand on a 1939 Underwood Typewriter. Cards are then stitched on a Sears Roebuck sewing machine that doesn’t love paper as much as I do, but it cooperates! All stitched notes are made by hand by me in my studio in Denver and will have variations. — Julie
I appreciate this hand-stitched effort, but even more I’m thankful for the friend who knows me enough to know I would appreciate these words and this handmade-from-the-heart beauty. (I don’t know Julie but I can picture a word lover bent over a vintage workhorse).
On the heels of this gift, the day opened with this poem:
Safety Net
This morning I woke
thinking of all the people I love
and all the people they love
and how big the net
of lovers. It felt so clear,
all those invisible ties
interwoven like silken threads
strong enough to make a mesh
that for thousands of years
has been woven and rewoven
to catch us all.
Sometimes we go on
as if we forget
about it. Believing only
in the fall. But the net
is just as real. Every day,
with every small kindness,
with every generous act,
we strengthen it. Notice,
even now, how
as the whole world
seems to be falling, it
is there for us as we
walk the day’s tightrope,
how every tie matters.
— Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer*
Your turn: What are you thankful for today?
* Isn’t it time to name Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer the next Colorado Poet Laureate?
** Nancy Spain was an English reporter and writer.