Gratitude

Today I am full of gratitude as I ponder the amazing people I have met over the years. 

I will start with my friend, Nathan. I met Dr. Nathan Harness at Texas Tech as he was finishing his Ph.D. and I was just beginning mine. I have been fortunate to get to know him over the years. He is one of the most generous people you will meet—he makes lasting connections with his students and he is always there for a friend. If I had to guess, he’s been this way his whole life. But, to guess a bit more, I suspect starting his job at the Twin Towers on 9/11/2001 plays a role in how generous he is today.

With his permission, I am sharing his story of finally making it in the real world with a job in Tower 2 as a stockbroker. Only moments later, he was overtaken with emotion as he made the decision to exit his office amid the chaos of what appeared to be burnt paper flying outside the office windows. Nobody knew what was happening next door or above them. He passed a firefighter on his way down the stairwell who said, “keep going, there’s a way out.”

Listen to Nathan tell his story here.

You might also recall what John had to say in my blog from last week on his experience walking into Ground Zero.

I am grateful for Nathan and the kindness he has shown me. Shortly after meeting the love of my life during a chaotic point in life, I told Nathan I might be moving and he leaped into action with job opportunities without judgement. Thank you, Nathan.

And to John, I continue to be humbled by his commitment to promoting wellness in others, his love for his family, and his willingness to share his story with me.

Next, meet Cherie. Dr. Cherie Stueve—a creative, empathetic, and hilarious friend. Cherie was a former student of mine. She made an incredible quilt for me and my boys when we were struggling. Even after my dog chewed off a corner (sorry, Cherie), we still tote the quilt around with us to soccer games to entertain and warm us.

As any former student will attest, I have strict standards on grammatical accuracy. I preach that if there are grammatical errors in their work, nobody will trust the accuracy of their research. When I received my first message from Cherie that went something like, “somebody way back when taught me to notice small format issues…and somebody needs to look in the mirror,” I knew I needed to employ her to edit my first publication through EnLite. Lo and behold, she found some errors.

Thanks to Dr. Stueve, I am releasing Facilitating Couple Money Conversations. Any remaining formatting and grammatical errors are on me. Enjoy and let me know what you think!

 Thank you, dear Cherie, for being a friend and supporter.