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?