Editor’s note: This week we celebrate a pre-Thanksgiving Week of Gratitude, with Loyola Press authors sharing reflections on gratitude each day. Kerry originally shared this reflection on the People for Others blog in 2014.For midnight conversations with my siblings, long after we should have gone to bed; for friends who know and nod; for the lady on the subway who lends an ear; for coworkers who look up from their computers when I have a question; for God’s willingness to put up with all of my worries and complaints: I’m grateful for people who truly listen.For the old, creaky wood floors and the chipped paint; for the plaster falling from the ceiling and the hissing radiators; for the neighbors who never smile and the ones that always do; for the many flights of stairs and the warm light from thrift-store lamps; for the meals cooked on the giant stove, and the secondhand couch upon which friends crowd: I’m grateful for an apartment that feels like home.For the view of the Connecticut coast that flies by as the train rolls along the tracks at sunset; for the stop signs and streetlights; for the green, rolling hills; for the bike rides that take longer than expected and that wind around horse pastures and by fruit stands; for the subway cars filled with mariachi singers; for the walks that go nowhere in particular: I’m grateful for the journey.
