What Are We Grateful For?

By Ilyse Greene Beth El - The Beaches Synagogue

Another year is coming to a close, and as we begin our journey into the year 2023, we typically reflect on the many things that we are grateful for - good health, our family & friends...experiences, love, and peace.

We reflect on the positive experiences and the negative ones. We reflect on moments where we could have been a better person and we reflect on the things we had no control over. And if we are lucky enough, we manage to get through the year with more positives than negatives, more successes than failures, and more joys than sorrows.

For me, personally, 2022 was a year to be grateful. I lost my grandmother to her eternal resting place on July 23, 2022. I was beyond fortunate to have my grandmother for 42 years of my life, and for that, I will always be grateful. While a large part of her had been absent for years, saying our final goodbyes to the matriarch of our family - the person who instilled faith, family, and tradition in us - that was when the loss hurt the most. I have so many great memories with my grandmother. Watching her get her hair done at the same beauty salon every Saturday morning, getting our nails done together, going out to lunch and shopping - those are just some of my favorite memories. But it was the family traditions and values that she so often liked to remind me of. What it meant to be Jewish; what it meant to never be ashamed of who you are and where you’re from; what it meant to stand up for what you believed in - those are the lessons I am going to pass down to my children and grandchildren. Those are the lessons that I am grateful for. So, as I reflect on the year 2022, I am not sad for the sorrows or for the people we have lost - I am grateful for them. If it weren’t for them, and the moments that make us realize their impact on our lives, would we even know what it means to be grateful? We love you “Dot”!

Cheers to 2023, and may the troubles of last year be left behind so that as we look forward to this New Year, there will be plenty of room to be grateful.