Dear Mom e-Letter
Remembering, Celebrating, Healing

Volume 2, Issue 1
Counting My Blessings
January, 2007

Dear Reader,

Mom said, “Count your blessings.”

It has become an annual tradition to “count my blessings” at the end of the year. Gratitude is reverent payment for gifts we receive, many of which were free, therefore, easily taken for granted. And at the end of the year, when I count my blessings, I’m rich. It doesn’t matter what the dollar amount is in any account. I am rich with blessings.

I know the joy of my granddaughter’s toothless grin while opening presents with her brother on her first Christmas. I know the glow of moonlight on freshly fallen snow, and the colors that burst profusely from a sunset, and then quietly disappear into the dark of a starlit night, and sharing all of that with my grandson.

And this last year, I have been blessed to have a file filled with cards, letters and e-mails from people who have read Dear Mom and let me know the joy it gave them.

You are one of my blessings. You have shared the journey called “Dear Mom.” You’ve shared memories of your own mother’s hands, her food, her holiday traditions. One of you even shared a cookbook filled with Mom recipes and stories that describe the making and sharing of food and memories surrounding those wonderful meals.

You’ve shared stories of losing your mom and your mom with dementia. You’ve shared stories of love, life and lessons learned. You’ve shared the journey in a way that honors your mom, the fact that we all become our moms, and the legacy we’re going to pass on now that we are moms and grandmothers.

It’s a journey of many gifts, and those gifts keep giving, because our moms gave us so much, taught us to be grateful and to always count our blessings.

When you count the blessings from your mom, what do you think of first? I’ll bet a smile just came upon your face. Savor the memory, and share it in an e-mail if you’d like by sending it me at DeeDee@DeeDeeRaap.com. I’d like to share what you send me in a future issue of this e-letter.

When I count my blessings, you are among them. Thank you for sharing. May 2007 be a year of remembering, celebrating and healing for you and those you love!

Happy New Year!

Dee Dee

P.S. Thank you for reading this issue of Dear Mom E-Letter and passing it on to friends and family so they, too, can sign up to receive it.