So thankful

I have so much to be thankful for this year -- family, friends, the opportunity to go back to school, having a job in this tough economy, a roof over our heads, food on our table and of course my sweet, beautiful, smart, healthy baby girl.

But most of all this year, I'm thankful for Mike. He is so strong, and there are days when his strength amazes and humbles me. He has an incurable cancer and he is living with it better than I live with a cold. He goes to work every day, even when he doesn't feel like it. He's determined to live his life normally and provide for his family. He's determined to be here for me and for Julia. He's determined for us to have a normal life.

One of the first things that went through my mind when I heard his diagnosis last April and learned that the survival rate for this cancer was in months, was that he wouldn't be here for the holidays. I don't know why my mind went to that, but it did. And here it is a year and a half later, and we're celebrating holidays No. 2. I can't begin to describe how blessed and grateful I feel for that.