There’s this sign in the Bronx that looks to be advertising gratitude. I pass it on the train at a point when I am pointedly not grateful for being on the train (I have a two hour commute). Last ride home, I was reminded of some sort of gratefulness project wherein I was asked to make a list of 50 things for which I am grateful.
I found it! Dated 3-3-99 (from the last century, oh my) and while I read it I recalled writing the items I wrote that rang true and the items that felt falsely writerly and the items that sounded daft but I kept them anyway, to reach the asked-for 50. Here are those from the rang-true category, because they still do (ring true):
friday night
a little boy with a new haircut
woodsmoke against a winter sky nah
a baby out of a bath
white restaurant napkins
a quiet mind
a child slipping her hand in mind
compassion
contrition
the smell of tomatoes
the state of grace
a child’s face lit by birthday candles
a curve in the road
an act of courage
a porch light left on for me
a kind word
church bells
“a good grey thread”
“a small good thing”
a handsome man
the honor system
Won’t you tell me yours, dear reader?
DIANE di COSTANZO 