Gratitude:

• my aunt Esther who is 103
• that my son and I got to visit her in August (she lives 11 hours away)
• that she sent us a Halloween card 2 days ago
• for Etsy!!!!! Etsy allows me to choose sweet gifts from some cool shops that I can send to Esther, just because- the last gift was soap in the shape of a bird
• the tiny bit of rain we got that turned the leaves orange and red
• getting to see our friends do their clogging dance at a festival tomorrow- they are SO good, it’s kind of like tap dancing but louder
• hearing my husband’s fishing tales- he just got home from a trip to Florida
• that even though my bowling scores were lower this week, I’m a little more comfortable bowling in front of teams now and I had fun
• my dad is letting me use my momma’s bowling ball- last week when I used it, I cried, this week I didn’t cry!

Miracle photos:

My great aunt Esther and her daughter Patty lived together from 1979 to 2021 in a small lake town in Iowa, near Minnesota. They did lots of crafts and ceramics. Every holiday, they decorated their house with the things they made and bought.

Patty unexpectedly passed away on March 26, 2021. In May 2021, my son and I went up to see Esther for her birthday.

I hadn’t been to her house in many years. When I asked if she had an attic, she let me go up and look.

Up in the attic were all these boxes. Esther told me that if I wanted any, to take them because they were going to goodwill.

Goodwill?

That made me wonder what was in them, so I started opening the lids! Holiday decorations! Some bought, some handmade.

We had our bikes in the back of my truck, so I jammed as many boxes as I could into the back seat. Always wishing I could’ve gotten more… but, we barely had room for our suitcases, ha ha.

Because winters are very harsh up there (like 20 degrees below zero), they gave away the rest of the stuff, Esther sold her house, and moved into a cozy assisted living home.

Now, when I open up those boxes to decorate for each holiday, I can smell her storybook house, sold over a year ago.

If we hadn’t been there for her 102nd birthday, we wouldn’t have any of her things.

Miracles.

Thank you for reading. I hope you are seeing miracles wherever you are. I’d love to hear about them if you are! Feel free to comment, if you’d like.

Hope you have a wonderful Friday!

Jessica

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** all writing and photos are by me