Thankful Thursday

Today I had to go to the doctor for a consultation on a procedure I have to have next week. It isn't a big deal as I've had this procedure before. While I was waiting, I had some time to think about what I am thankful for.

• I am thankful that we have doctors who are able to make us feel better, when years ago most things were not possible, and many unthinkable.
• I am thankful for those people who were called to go into the "healing" profession of medicine and are there because they want to help people feel better.
• I am thankful for those friends who have had medical scares this past month and are finding new reasons to be thankful every day as God answers prayers.

The one specific thing I want to talk about this week, doesn't have a lot to do with medicine - but I thought of it in the doctor's office, so it counts.

While I was sitting in the waiting room - there was a couple who obviously got to the office early. I assumed it was a husband and wife. They sat there and discussed their lives (not at all quietly), not caring who heard anything and everything about them.

At first, I was a bit annoyed. Didn't they see that the waiting room was full of people who didn't really want to know the inner workings of their everyday lives? But after a few minutes, I had a change of heart. These were obviously very caring people who had been together a very long time. Maybe their lives were busy and this was the one time they had together to catch up. It brought to mind my own grandparents and a time that was much simpler.

Maybe when my grandparents were young, they didn't have as many medical breakthroughs and people had to deal with a lot more pain . . . but everyone knew everyone. And if you were in a waiting room - you didn't have to explain your lives, because everyone pretty much already knew. The doctor knew your name, your husband's name and profession, and probably delivered each of your children. Back then, people trusted people with the 'guts' of their lives.

Some people might say that people were nosier and we had less privacy (party lines, anyone?), but that is not true. (What is FaceBook but legal stalking, anyway?)

Honestly, even when I was little, I remember that we couldn't go anywhere without running into someone that we knew - and it was always nice. It was nice to have people who cared about you and wanted to know how you were doing. I miss that.

As I was thinking about my grandparents, the nurse came out and asked for "Virgil". I was physically startled, as that was my Grandpa's name. A nice older man stood up and went through the door with her, chatting all the way about how he was doing "okay" and laughing, although it was quite obvious he was not "okay".

I had to hold back melancholic tears as I took a minute to miss my eccentric Grandpa. My Grandpa, who went to just about every local funeral, because he had lived in our county so long that he pretty much knew everyone. Some people might think it is morbid that someone would like to go to a funeral home - but this was where Grandpa got to catch up with his friends, hear about people's families, and remember. Remember the 'good ole' days'.

There are a lot of people who never got to know their grandparents, and I know I am lucky that I got to have most of mine for as long as I did.

So today, you might laugh, but I am thankful for FaceBook and other social networking sites. In a weird way - they allow us to go back to the 'good ole days' in a virtual way. We can still be nosy and not have to peer over the fence to do it. It allows us to connect and talk to people without having to travel to our childhood grocery store. It allows us a feeling of community that so many people have forgotten about.

And most of all, I'm thankful for my grandparents and the legacy of love and caring for people that they left behind.

What are you thankful for?