Thankfulness

I am in the big city to the south of where I live. I'll give you a hint...it starts with "mi" and ends with "ami."  This is where the couple of family members that I have in this country live. And I have kind of a weird love/hate thing going on with it. I know that my aunt will never leave, and if I want to be near her (and I do) then I have to move here at some point. Especially if/when I adopt. When I first thought of moving to the States, this is where I wanted to be. But I didn't find a job here that would get my visa for me, and got stuck elsewhere waiting for my green card. Then, as often happens, where I lived started growing on me. I liked that it was smaller and quieter than the big city. I liked that it was less hectic. I liked that the property prices were lower so I didn't have to live in a tiny apartment the size of a shoebox. I liked a lot of things. And I guess with many places that have bigger and better known neighbors, there are a lot of people were I live that don't like the city, or have a chip on their shoulder about it, or whatever. So I constantly hear people saying that they don't like it, and giving one reason or another why not. It started to sink in, so I started finding fault with the place.

And yet, I am always reminded when I come here that there are so many more things to do in a big city. So many more cultural opportunities. So many more food opportunities (oh the yummy croissant I had for breakfast this morning, straight from the French bakery). So many more people to mingle with. So half the time I come here, I come away thinking that moving wouldn't be so bad. 

Anyway, we had a fabulous Thanksgiving picnic, in a park, by the water. I wore a floppy hat because the sun was beating down. There aren't many places in the country where you can do that in late November. That should remind me that the place I fight and rail against moving to is actually pretty darn nice.  We had a couple of young kids around, and this was the first year for a long time that it didn't strike like a knife through my heart. I was able to enjoy them without pain.  I'm thankful that I finally have peace over infertility, although I can't help but be reminded that last Thanksgiving I was in New York doing an IVF cycle. Oh well, live and learn.

I'm having a nice time. I'm thankful for that.