No whining, no complaining. I’m mustering up every bit of gratitude this Thanksgiving.

Here’s my list about what I’m glad about even though my grandkids live 2,000 miles away. You do remember Disney’s Pollyanna and her “Glad Game,” right? No matter if something is not the way you want, you find what there is to be glad about.

I am extremely glad …

• All four were born healthy and remain so, and are being raised in a very loving and nurturing home. (That’s HUGE!)
• I am always welcome at that home, with open arms.
• I live in a time of technology. I am thankful for the people who invented Skype, FaceTime, Zoom, and other video chat methods.
• I am an important part of my grandkids’ lives. We have more contact with them then some grandparents do with in-town grandchildren. My grandkids see a rainbow in the sky and want to FaceTime to show it to Gram and Grandpa.
• They are part of our home even though they’ve been here less than a dozen times. On video chats, they have watched us cook dinner and picked out which placemats to use. They cheer Grandpa using the snow blower and discuss where the bird feeders should go.
• I am grateful for ways to share reading with grandkids across the miles.
• I am grateful for a peach of a daughter-in-law who has made sure we have time with the baby almost every day. She knows we so desperately need to see him, as he changes almost every day.

But wait! There’s more …

• I am thankful that I haven’t ever gotten sick as Fiona runs with the family iPad to her room! Our view on our iPad is a whirling hallway and ceiling as she runs to climb up on her bunk bed to have us to herself.
• Thank heaven no one objects to off-key singing. We entertain the baby with everything from “Row, Row, Row, Your Boat” to the Beach Boys’ “Barbara Ann.”
• When I hear of others with grandchildren across an ocean, a feeling a gratitude washes over me that I only have to travel to the other side of the U.S.
• I am abundantly grateful that in the eight years since we have become grandparents, we have been able to travel to see them on 33 separate trips. Some stays are 10 days, some are 2 months.
• I wince when I hear these words — but am so thankful that one or more of the grandchildren says every visit — “Why don’t you just live here?”

What have I forgotten? What are you grateful for about your situation with grandkids living far away? Use the Comments section below.

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