On This Thanksgiving Day

I believe in being thankful every single day, so every day is Thanksgiving for me, without the turkey. What I am thankful for on this day is, of course, my good friend receiving a lung this past Sunday. This is our first Thanksgiving at home in a couple of years because we have taken a Thanksgiving cruise with our children and their families the past few years. Today, as we celebrate together, I am thankful that I have a very loving husband, with whom I enjoy every day. We always have invitations for Thanksgiving, but we always prefer to be in each other’s company, and never feel alone. I am brining a turkey, and will cook a regular Thanksgiving menu, even though it is just us. Since we will eat later in the day, I have boiled cinnamon, put vanilla on cotton balls and then into the microwave (thankful for that suggestion), and the house smells like Thanksgiving. I am thankful for many things, but most of all, I am thankful for LOVE!

China: Two Wednesdays!

This year for my birthday, I decided that all I wanted was to go somewhere out of the country, but I could not decide where I wanted to go. We had planned to take a River Cruise through China in the spring, but then, we saw an offer, on Groupon, we couldn’t refuse, So China it was. Our itinerary included Beijing, Shanghai, and Suzhou (2 hours from Shanghai).

We drove to Los Angeles for the flight and spent the night at a hotel for our flight the next day via Air China. It was very convenient, and we left our car in a parking garage close to the airport. We arrived at the airport about three hours early, with two suitcases, and a backpack each, after all, we were going to a shopping mecca. The flight attendants were just as quiet as the attendants on our Japan Air flight to Singapore. They all wore the same buns in their hair too. There must be a reason, but I didn’t ask. One interesting thing on the flight==I had never seen an unruly passenger. One man refused to move out of his aisle seat to let the person in the middle pass by. The attendant re-seated him, and also told him that he should be ashamed of himself as a Chinese person.

The service was good, and although we didn’t know at the time, many of those sitting near us, were in our group. The tour company was “Gate One,” based in Pennsylvania. We had never used a tour company before (other than Cuba, because it was mandatory), so we weren’t sure what the experience would be. The flight was twelve hours, but it was as smooth as silk.

We arrived at Beijing’s beautiful airport at 4:50 p.m. and after retrieving our luggage (we had to take a train, a la Atlanta to the baggage claim), a Gate One person, R Our group was divided into tow with two tour managers. We were taken to our hotel (luggage went in another van), the Xinghao Hotel--very Chinese--lovely room. Our tour guide, Rose, from Inner Mongolia (part of China) was a font of information during the entire trip. She was with us from the beginning of the tour until the end of our stay in Shanghai--there we had another tour manager, Matt, with whom we were not enthralled--it seemed like a job to him, rather than a passion. Both spoke excellent English.

Things which I found interesting, “cool,” fabulous, unusual or whatever:

1. Beijing is a city full of history--it makes the US seem like it is only two years old. We visited at a good time because Beijing is known for smog, but the skies were “APEC BLUE,” because of the APEC conference which was attended by our Potus. The conference was held in the area close to the Olympic Village--

2. Shanghai is called “The New York of China.” The older section and newer section are separated by “The Bund/“

3. I saw more KFCs than I have ever seen anywhere. Of course, the ubiquitous McDonalds, Subway, Pizza Hut, Starbucks, and other chains were also there.

4. As homogeneous as other cities we have visited in Asia. Everyone wanted to take pictures of the Black people, and my husband was much more obliging than I was. On many levels, it annoyed me.

5. The Great Wall is indeed great--it was different from what I expected. It is far steeper, but not as high as I thought it would be. It is built right into the mountain. I wondered how many workers were lost. Our guide told us that they call it the longest graveyard in the world because all of the dead workers are buried there.

5. Tianamen Square and the Forbidden City were in the city center. Mao is entombed there,and the square is the largest in the world. It reminded me of the squares in Havana and Ho Chi Minh City.

6. The majority of the toilets require squatting--thankful for yoga. Cheap taxis.

5. The food is quite different from the Chinese food here. Terrified when I saw “Assorted cats’ ears soup” on the menu. Later learned that many dishes are just given names, but don’t necessarily mean that the dish contains the
named item. Whew! Nevertheless, I didn’t eat anything I couldn’t recognize.

6. Beijing was quite cold, and Shanghai was much warmer. The Silk Market in Beijing is good, but the Han City Mall in Shanghai is better.

7. FB and Twitter are blocked in China, but thanks to a cousin teaching there, she told me to sign up for VPN which allowed me access. It was $9.00 for a month. Both hotels hd free Wi-Fi

8. All of our meals were served Lazy Susan Style--soup is served last--no fortune cookies--not Chinese.

9. The Olympic Village is impressive although the government displaced people in order to build it. There is even a hotel shaped like a dragon. Our guide said, none is ever there because it is far from the city center.

10. Asia is where I feel most foreign--there is a tremendous language barrier, because there is no power of the written word.

11. So many willow trees. So many people. So much history. Mainland China is quite different from Hong Kong

Flight back was delayed three hours. We boarded, buckled in and thirty minutes later, we were told that there were technical difficulties and we all deplaned and were bussed to another plane an hour or so later.

We left on a Wednesday. and returned on Wednesday--thus the title TWO WEDNESDAYS.

Thankfulness at Three Score and Ten

Thankful at Seventy


Today was an incredible day as I began my seventh decade. Although I planned to do absolutely nothing to celebrate this birthday on the actual day, I was humbled by the outpouring of love and good wishes. I decided to meander along with my normal day, although my husband had breakfast ready for me at 7:30 A.M. (great since he never comes downstairs until 10:00 A.M.—pure love). My art group, prepared a marvelous surprise celebration, and my Facebook page was unbelievable.

I know that I am an extremely blessed woman, and I am appreciative of it all, and never ever take it for granted. The people I love most were the first very early telephone callers. Four people sang on the phone, our grandgirls sent a video which I understand was one of four they did in order to choose the correct one. My husband, as usual, hid all of the cards which came in the mail (that gives him great joy), and they were opened as we ate dinner. I always prefer dinner at home on special occasions. He asks what I want, and he goes to the restaurant to get it—again, pure love.

Our daughter called in the evening to say she was tired, because my birthday was too long. I thought that was funny until my husband told me the same thing. At first I didn’t understand what they meant, but after thinking about it I realized that they shared my entire day, from the early morning right into the evening. It was indeed a family affair.

I thank all of you who gave a kind word, who acknowledged an old lady going into decade number seven, and for always being an inspiration to me. I have always just always lived my life my way. I have always been the same person everywhere, home, work, church, or wherever—never knew how to be any other way. It has been that consistency of being, of valuing, of caring, of appreciating, of thankfulness, of humility, of never ever expecting anything in return, which has brought me this far. I enjoy every moment of the journey.

The most interesting thing about being Seventy, is that within my head, I am that same person. There are certain changes which age may bring—I don’t want to drive at night (I never liked driving anyway), I am conscious of my health and try to take care of myself. I am thankful for my health, for a very lovely and supportive husband, daughters, and grandchildren, friends, ( present as well as those who have been deleted from my life), Former Mrs. O Students, and all of the people from my past who all made me who I was, who is really who I still am.

There are no words to express my sincere thanks to all of you for November 3, 2014; Although I did not celebrate in a formal way today, Mr . O and I will travel to China next week for ten days. That is my seventieth year celebration—what we love most—travel. It is not a new thing for us, since we have travelled all over the world from the time our children were babies , but now we can do it with more abandon, and without worrying about calendars.

Thank you, I love you, and God has been so good to me, and I thank Him for the blessings he has provided during these seventy years. I also thank him for any pit stops along the way as well because those strengthened me.

I look forward to the future, because the best is always yet to come!