Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!
November-December 2024
by Margo Oxendine, Contributing Columnist
It’s been a rough year — probably the worst in recent memory — for me.
Yet, there is still very much for which I am grateful. And since Thanksgiving is this month, I’ll make a list: I am grateful to the hundreds of Cooperative Living readers who sent cards, gifts and emails with their best wishes. I’m sorry I never wrote those thank you notes; the pile seemed insurmountable. I thanked many of you in these columns and answered every email. But there are many of you I feel I let down, including myself.
It wasn’t just the two heart surgeries. It was also the demolished cars, none of which were my fault. Each one required a lot of calls and letters and searching for replacements to deal with, including dealing with the bank and insurance companies. All of that took a heck of a lot out of me.
I’m on my third car in four months, and I sure hope it’s the last for a while. I was grateful to find it just five miles from home. It’s not in the best shape and needs a lot of expensive work. If this car were a horse, it would be described as “rode hard and put away wet.” Still, I’m grateful to have something to get me to the grocery store and the library.
I am very grateful for the countless rides to and from Charlottesville. If I ever have to go back, it will be too soon. I will, but not for at least a year. I’m grateful for that, too. I know no one really wanted to make the long drive to C’ville and back, but most did it in good spirits and with abundant goodwill. We had as much fun as we possibly could. One kindly fellow volunteered to drive me home from a hospital stay, and we’d never even met before! God bless you all!
I am grateful to the great friend who loaned me her nice car for six weeks until I found one that sufficed and wasn’t soon demolished. I am grateful to the friend who took my grocery list, drove to Covington and brought me good food, including a tub of homemade chicken noodle soup. I am also grateful to the Covington library for keeping the shelves stocked with books I wanted to read. I have burned through as many as a book a day out on the porch, going nowhere else.
I am grateful that I was told to exercise by walking. Yay! It’s my favorite thing! I started “small” the day after my first hospital release. Now, I’m back to my regular two miles a day, rain or shine. (Well, if it’s not pouring rain.)
Every day, I am grateful for three new things to eat: chicken salad, cottage cheese, and these nifty little Lindy’s ice creams in flavors like peaches and cream — just 160 calories! I am thrilled to eat these every day.
I am grateful to have somehow lost almost 50 pounds without even trying! I am not thankful that only two or three pants still fit; I wish there were more.
My hair did something for which I turned out to be grateful. Before the first surgery, I could not get it colored. After the second surgery, when I had a gaping scar on my throat, I didn’t dare have it colored, either. What did my hair do? Somehow, it turned blonde. Yes, I’m a blonde now! I am getting used to it and not paying a small fortune at the salon for color. I guess I will need a new column photo … sometime.
So, am I looking forward to Thanksgiving? You bet I am! I don’t care about the turkey; chicken salad and cottage cheese will be fine. I am living Thanksgiving every single day! Happy holidays to you and yours! And thank you to everyone again. I am grateful to all of you!
To order a copy of Margo’s “A Party of One,” call 540-468-2147 Mon.-Wed., 9 a.m.-5 p.m., or email [email protected].