The Baby

This year a new life came to be. She cries when she's mad or lonely. She smiles, cocks her head in delight, and calls me with her eyes from her high chair. She eats peas and drinks a lot of milk and hugs me with her entire body. Her skin is light and her heart is healthy. We call her "baby" or "Lucy"; sometimes "Savi Lucia" or just "Savi", and she stands for hope and all the good that comes with being human. She is the best that came with the year 2008.

Soon-to-be-met Relatives

I am thankful for having a guest over today. She is from my dad's side of the family; she is my dad's cousin. We call her Auntie Pam. I can't wait to meet her! She'll be here soon.
Oops, I think I have to stop writing now.

Snow

Yesterday we went to the snowy mountains of Idyllwild. I had not seen or touched real snow in years! My dad rented a cabin for us to stay in. The roof was white with snow and so was the yard. After unloading our stuff for an overnight stay (except our sleds) we went to a National Park to sled. Our cousins met us there. They weren't going to stay overnight, though. Back at our cabin, later, we drank hot chocolate and had soup. We went to bed after our cousins left. The next morning we had a delicious breakfast that was very filling, at a local cafe. We played in the snow some more. We made a snow avocado and an igloo for tiny people. I really loved playing in the snow. I am so thankful for snow.

Fun Rides and Little Things

I am thankful for amusement parks because they have nice, cool roller coasters. I went to Knott's Berry Farm and the log ride there was fantastic! I also like to go to amusement parks because they usually have nice little stores that sell nice little things. I like the nice, little things because they are nice and little.

Pain in the Neck

I'm grateful for pain in the neck. As I look at this screen sideways - my head tilted in a spasm to the right - I'm reminded to take better care of myself. The searing tension fires suddenly at times when I most need my neck - like just before I need to change lanes or go on stage. If I were the hunchback in charge of ringing bells I guess it wouldn't matter so much but I'm not; I'm a neck and back doctor. My spine must move like a dancers. Nobody wants to see a spine doctor who is bent in torticolis. I'm grateful I can run, ride, swim and play all kids of games that keep my spine and body healthy.

I'm grateful the other Vance had neck pain too. Hold on, don't jump to conclusions - I'll explain. Vance Jr. hurt his neck while rough-housing with his bigger and smaller sisters. He was left with a fixed bend to the right, torticolis and pain. I examined him with an objective eye - ya right! My training took over - "Don't treat family. Get outside objective expert care." I called my friend Jeff (Spine Surgeon) who gave me a favor. Two X-rays and a CT scan later, Jeff said what I wanted to hear, "He's all clear. No facet dislocation. Everything looks fine."

I'm grateful for the pain because Vance and Vance are both taking better care of their necks.

Ouch! I think I'll stop typing now.

Some Time

I am thankful for the illusion of time. Some raise children and wonder where the time went. When my children are grown I know I won't wonder, because I am here, practically every minute of their lives. I tell them "God cleans Manhattan every year with snow at Christmas."

I tell them "the Muppets are coming back in-vogue" and read the corresponding The New York Times story out loud, over hot drinks at Starbucks. I clip their fingernails and find their blankies when lost at 1:00 a.m., then 2:30 and 5:05. This is my point in time. I am here. In 2025, today will be part of another life, but today I have time. Time to re-group after a too-long lecture on behaving well; time to live the day again, to get it right in their presence. Time to read them another chapter of The Great Brain or stop to chat with Rabbi Barry or apologize for a short temper or hold the baby until she calms. Time to hope may be someday, my children will believe the chasm between things hoped for and real life is just a tiny crack in daily living.

Good Stories and Good Readers

I am thankful for interesting stories. Trenton Lee Stewart wrote The Mysterious Benedict Society. It has been so interesting to listen to. My dad read it to me. It is about kids trying to stop bad messages from going to people's minds. The book made me feel intense, as in "on the edge" of falling over. It was supposed to be a bedtime story, but my brother and I couldn't stop ourselves from jumping up on our beds until my dad stopped reading each night. Books like that make life whole for me.

Generous Parents

I'm thankful for the gift of having parents that give me money. Because I love using the money to buy treats for my family and I love saving up for a diary I saw at Barnes & Nobel. It has a lock and a key. The diary's cover is very cute. It has a litte sad puppy on the front and there are words that say "My Diary" on the cover. The puppy's hair is blond. I will use the diary as a notebook, like lots of diaries are used. And that is what I'm thankful for.

Perseverance

Yesterday our family ran "The Jingle Bell Run" in Balboa Park. It was a 5k, but I thought that was less than a mile. When I was passing the second mile, my daddy told me five kilometers is 3 miles! That's when I nearly fell over, I was so exhausted. Half a mile later I sped up and passed the rest of my family and finished before them. My time was 37:03. I felt proud and happy because I finished the race even though it was hard. When something is hard when you finish it, it makes you feel good. At least that's how it is for me.

My Birthday

I am thankful for life. I've been on planet Earth for two short decades, and I am grateful for it all: the good, the bad, all of it.

Great Connections

We spoke across continents at seventeen. Vance, a shiny, new college freshman in Southern California. I, a first term medical student in politically volatile South America. He drove in sunshine and smelled of chlorine and sand. I walked on cobblestone streets and smelled of formaldehyde and rain. Eight calls a year, to talk of writing and lost dogs and sticky social situations. Eight calls, so optimistic and real; they were my connections to that other world,

where possibilites are weighed and pursued with no apologies.

thankful to be invited!

i missed you guys so it's so nice to be part of the gratitude project, it makes me feel more connected w you! right now i am thankful for the way little river's voice sounds through the baby monitor. he makes a lot of noises in his sleep, clearing his throat and streching a lot, and i can hear all of them amplified on the monitor while i sit quietly in the living room doing baby-free activities. the monitor is so good that i can even hear him sucking on the pacifier, that makes a really cute sound.

No More Postum for Me

I would like to thank all the wonderful people at WebMD and their physician editor Michael W. Smith for assuring me that drinking lots of java is good for me and naming Coffee, "The New Health Food". Being an American, it is much easier for me to enjoy coffee, post-positive research findings, rather than because it warms my body or soul.
I would also like to thank the lovely person (or people) who started and organized the Fair Trade Coffee movement, because as a citizen of the largest consumer economy in the history of the world, I am glad to know some poor farmer in Ecuador gets a little richer because of me.
Lastly, I would like to thank my local, and global, Starbucks for becoming the largest Fair Trade Coffee Purchaser in the Universe.
I guess life really is better with a little coffee...

A Cautionary Tale

I am grateful for being able to share and for people who share.

Here is a story that will help you share more often:

A long time ago, there was a little boy who loved to share and he had a twin. There was one thing that was different between them. One twin liked sharing; one did not. So whenever they tried to trick their mom and tried to confuse her, she would just ask "Do you like sharing?"

If he said "Yes," she would know it was Parley.

If he said "No," she would know it was Farley. One day Farley was walking in the woods, because their family lived right at the edge of the woods. Suddenly, he felt a shadow. He looked behind him and there stood a bear. The bear said " If you don't share, I will rip you limb from limb.

And Farley said, "O.K., yes, I will share, or else you can rip me limb from limb."

From that day on, Farley shared all the time.

The end.

A Crowded Walk

I am thankful for my family, because when you are down they pick you up and turn you around. They give you things. You can share with them and they share with you. My family does everything together and nobody is left behind.

One time we went to a 5-K race, in my town. My extended family came along too. Nobody really ran at all because it was so crowded. So we ended up walking the whole way. I was grateful that we did the whole thing anyway because it was fun.

My Voice, Some Fruit and My Castle

I am thankful for lots of holidays and I am thankful for my voice. Because it sounds beautiful and because I love having a voice because I can speak well. I am thankful for my voice because it is very, very fun having my voice.

I am thankful for markets and the fruit in them. Now I will tell a story:

Once we went to the market and we liked so many that we bought all the fruit in all the town. The sellers said, "You have to give some of the fruit back to others, because we have no fruit left."

We gave them a piece of orange and they said "that is not enough. Because it is very important for people to have food."

We said, "We will give everybody some at our castle. So we can all survive at our big castle." The end.

Fruit

Fruit is sweet as sugar, and colorful as flowers;

A peach, warm and fuzzy and orange, fresh from the tree;

An orange, (really orange!), fresh from the sun and the tree.

Apples, plums, pears, guavas, mangoes, nectarines,

mulberries, blueberries, strawberries, bananas, grapes

watermelon, avocadoes, mandarins, tangerines...

...all of these and many more are the best.

Fruits are beauty, food and color. All these fruits make me happy!

I think of sugar, sun and rain and rainbows and anything else that is happy, when I eat a delicious fruit.

People Who Play With Me

I am thankful for my baby, and Savi up in heaven and I am thankful for Merlin, our dog who used to live with us. And I'm thankful for Christmas and for all the holidays that we have. And I am thankful for my mom and dad and my family. I am thankful for everything because it is so great to have people around us and I am always happy when people play with me. And most of all because the little boy Tasman plays with me whenever he comes over. I am not sure how old he is, but you can ask him when he comes over. If he doesn't know, ask his mom or dad. All the families and children in the world like to play with me, because they love me. That is the thing about life.

Inside My Shelter Listening to Stories

I am thankful for a warm and happy shelter. And I am thankful for the happy people inside that shelter. And I love listening to my MP3 player, on speaker, because when I put it on speaker I can share the story I'm listening to with others.

Opera Lessons

I sit on the sidelines, during opera lessons, while my children "blah, blah, blah" their way through scales. I sit and learn one must not look towards the sky even when hitting the highest note. I learn one never lingers on a note causing throat pain and one never actively searches for a note in song; the soma does the job on its own.

So tonight I sang carols at the local church, with my head level. I must have sounded like an angel from Dante's heaven when I held the final note to "Silent Night" three seconds longer than my neighbor. I sure am grateful for those lessons.

Choice

I believe in free will; be it illusion or reality. The idea that each moment I write the next line of my life can redirect a dark action or thought. I may not control the sun, the ocean or a loved one's sadness, but I control how I react to such grand forces. I believe in second chances and restitutions
and happy endings. And that how I react, changes everything. For this I am grateful.

Flowers

I am grateful for flowers and the color they bring to the world. You can make bunches of flowers, put them in vases, smell them or just look at them and all their color. We can give them as presents, or sell them, or keep them. We can pick them or leave them or even transplant them. But no matter what you do with them, they are always beautiful to me.

A Warm Bed

I am thankful for a warm house and a nice bed to sleep in because some kids don't have those blessings.

Its All Fun

I'm grateful for friends, and people and pijamas and other stuff like that. I want to be very happy about that because all that stuff is wonderful. I really love how things are done and are supposed to be. All because its so fun and I love lots of things like that.

Tomorrow

I am grateful for tomorrow's lunch. Savory sandwiches, vanilla milk and pink apples neat and tidy in a brown bag. All lovingly prepared by a handsome man with strong hands. A lunch ready and waiting for a final adventure before being devoured by a hungry family on their visit to Disneyland.
It is good to have a lovely lunch and lovely day to look forward to.

Some Great People

I am thankful for nice friends and family.

My Piano

I love my piano because I can write music, practice my lessons and go crazy on it. I can compose happy pieces and sad pieces. I love my piano also because it fills my life with joy and music. My piano might never be tuned right, because it is old, but I still love it anyway.

New Nikes

I just bought a brand new pair of running shoes, and I'm grateful. These shiny trail shoes don't know the future drama and pure joy stored within them. I will sweat and hurt and run to avoid wild animals. I will think about the first marathoner ever, who died, at the feet of an ancient Greek Army Captain after running his first 40 kilometers to save an army.
I will remember running through icy rain on slick Los Angeles streets, unable to think in full sentences, but oh, so happy.
I will remember running, believing the worst was over and knowing, deep inside, my first child would live long and happy.
I will think, and remember and hope, in these new shoes. Because what is life without drama and joy?
And so, I am glad I have a new vehicle.

Banjo Blessings

Happy Thanksgiving! Background music here - plunka, plink, i plunka, plinkity... turkey in the straw. I'm grateful for my banjo.
I believe banjo music cures depression, hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, cellulite, and colon cancer. Important researchers and I have shown that a three second banjo lick can put a smile on anyone's face. Historians at a big university reported that Mona Lisa smiled because Leonardo hired a banjo player for background music.
I once was ignorant. Now I know. Banjo is good for my brain too. Since I started playing banjo I've found my lost keys, figured out why the well went dry, and started writing amazing stuff. I've even invented a dozen cool things you can do with picks on your fingers. Since typing is not one of them, I'll get back to picking now.

Rain

The rain came last night, and I am grateful. The earth sings this morning. The fragrant dirt is moist and dark and alive with dancing worms. The air brisk and bright, and the future filled with greens sprouting where only dry yellow plant skeletons stood. Rain is hope to us in Southern California.
What a lovely gift to receive on Thanksgiving Day.