Thankful

Last week I went on a 7.72 mile walk. I chose not to write my blog until today. I had headed to Old Town because I wanted to have a little bit of good cheer. Old Town makes me happy. Getting pleasant salutations first thing out of my car by Chad Jordon, the owner of Cravings Gourmet Popcorn, makes me happy. Walking the river trail makes me happy. One of the reasons I went to Old Town was I was creating a photo of myself for a project a group of #lovelansing folks were doing for a friend; a good friend. She had recently been diagnosed with a rare form of breast cancer. It broke my heart to think about all she had been through and all that she was going to go through. I needed this picture to be in a good and happy place.

After taking my photo to my satisfaction, I started my walk. I had a destination to the north. I would get off the river trail at the Turner Dodge Mansion and walk Grand River to MLK. There was a neighborhood in the North West corner I needed to get to. If I had the energy I would walk Filley to Turner and back to my parked car in Old Town. I didn’t know how far it would be but I was prepared for a good walk. As I walked and after I got home I decided that this walk made me realize a few things I was thankful for. Since tomorrow is Thanksgiving I thought that very appropriate. So here is my City Saunter list of things I am thankful for.

I am thankful to have made friends with an incredible, active, energetic and creative group of people. This is a group who is willing to take ridiculous, funny, spirited and creative photos of themselves doing crazy, happy, inspiring things to send a positive, hopeful message to our friend who started chemo treatments today. The printed book of these images was 50 pages and was presented to her yesterday.

I am thankful that I have the ability and stamina to walk 7.72 miles. I am thankful I don’t have injuries that keep me from walking. I know many who can’t.
I am thankful on my walks to be on streets that still produce such vivid memories of my childhood.
I am thankful to live in the Lansing area. My family is here and my husband’s family is here.
I am thankful to my friend who started cancer treatments because she gave me the courage to get tested myself and finally get some peace of mind. I had been putting it off for almost 10 years.
I am thankful for Old Town, because I love it there.
I am thankful for Lansing’s River Trail because it’s the heart of Michigan’s Trails.

I am thankful for Lansing’s rivers even if it stinks sometimes, it’s so pretty!
I am thankful for life and trials and death because it breaks the norm and forces growth.
I am thankful for friends who have supported this project and me.
I am thankful for family for loving me with all their imperfections and despite my own.
I am thankful for my faith because without it I feel I would be so broken I couldn’t move.
Apologies for the typo!
Tomorrow I will be thankful for a great meal cooked by my husband’s mom who is an amazingly loving and kind person.
I am thankful that I can laugh and be happy and trust that even something really bad can be turned into something good.

Happy Thanksgiving!

You Gotta Have Friends

Lansing is lovely. It has an amazing river trail that meanders alongside two river edges. It has a picturesque skyline with breathtaking architecture. It has festivals and events to make anyone happy. It has historic areas and government monuments. Lansing has its own Chili Festival, music festival, film festival and a dragon boat festival. However, I’ve come to realize that despite all these incredible places and events there is something even better that makes Lansing stand out. It’s the people. I’ve heard, on many occasions, Lansing newbies proclaim just how nice the people in Lansing are. In the last few years I’ve witnessed the kindness and generosity of Lansing residents over and over. With the versatility of social media, a call to arms takes seconds. This was the case a few years back when a family’s home in Old Town burned to the ground along with all their baby shower gifts for their soon to arrive baby boy. Within days, with just a Facebook post from Erin Slayter of Sweaty Mouse, a warehouse was filled with donated items. Another incident that I am aware of happened last year. My friend Justin Caine of Good Fruit Video posted that an elderly woman had been evicted from her apartment for lack of payment. She sat on the street corner surrounded by her meager belongings which were being picked off by passersby. Within an hour Tashmica Torok of Nyaka AIDS Orphans Project had offered up her basement for storage, Two Men and a Truck had donated a truck and their services to pick this woman’s possessions up and Sara Griffin from Lunch with a Purpose had arranged temporary living services. These are only two examples. I have more; a lot more. I find the more I get to know the people of Lansing the more impressed I am by our giving mentality; our courage to stand up for the underdog. I like that when a friend gets a discouraging message that another group of people rewrite the note into a new message of hope and love. Don’t you have a friend that is real with you? Who is willing to love you no matter how imperfect you are? A friend who cheers you on when you might be discouraged or have suffered a setback? I would have to say that the behavior of all these people I’ve mentioned and those I’ve mentioned by implication are true friends; true friends of Lansing and its people and I’m happy to be part of that group. #lovelansing