Giving Thanks, Using Hope, originally uploaded by MarkEJohnson.

Today, I am thankful. And hopeful.

I give thanks for all that I have – my family, my friends, my colleagues, even my students. I give thanks for the patience I have been granted, for the understanding I have been given, so that I can be patient as others try to understand what is going on with my boy.

I am hopeful that this test will come back negative, even though I know it means we need to keep looking, keep being patient, keep trying to understand what’s going on and what he needs.

But, even with all of this – these tests, these wires, these questions – I am thankful that, most of the time, he’s still my little boy, willing to play finger games under the covers as he waits.