Inspired by the Chronic Babe Blog Carnival. They’re kicking off their Thanksgiving holiday a little early this year.

“Tell us all about the people, resources, services, sources of inspiration, etc., that you are grateful for and how they have changed your life as a ChronicBabe for the better.”

I am thankful for my husband, who also has chronic illness.  Things have been rough for us for a long time now.  We have been through things that would cause most marriages to break up. Instead it has become stronger.  He is always there for me and I for him.  I always say “We are fighting a war, but we are fighting it together.”  He is so supportive in everything I do, including blogging!  Here is an excerpt of an email he wrote me.  Subject:  I love you  “(I have just caught up) on all your posts and THEY ARE ALL GREAT, and reading them lets me get inside your life even more and see how wonderful a person you are.  I can see why you have so many followers.”

I am thankful for those friends and family who have not forgotten about me.  Who don’t ask me how I am doing because they know what the answer is already. Who don’t just tell me to “hang in there” because I’ve been hanging for almost eight years, how much more hanging can I do?  The friends who are honest with me and tell me that they don’t know what to say any more.  Those who keep calling me, keep inviting me to their events.  Even if I can’t come, maybe sometimes I can.  The friends and family who believe me that I am sick, even though I don’t look it.

All of the wonderful friends I have made on the internet.  Some are healthy, some are sick and even though we’ve never met, they are there for me when I need them. Sometimes it’s just easier to say something on line to a person than it is in real life.

I am thankful for a new friend I have met through my son’s school who has tried to help me with what ever she can do for me.  It’s not just lip service for her, she really means it.  She is the first new friend in years that I have let into my life, who I have told my secrets to, whom I trust.  She even invited us for Thanksgiving this year!

The last person I am thankful for absolutely blew me away the other day.  I know her through a chronic illness board.  She knew about My Food Stamp Nightmare and she gave me a $100.00 gift certificate to a supermarket! I couldn’t believe that someone whom I have never met before would do that for me, and I am tearing up just thinking about it right now.  She is truly an angel on earth. She has asked to remain anonymous, saying “Give God the glory, not me. He’s the one that places opportunities before me to be His hands and His heart and His feet to ‘walk the talk’.

Those are whom I am thankful for.  Those who know that I am a mother first, a wife second, and sick person third, in that order.