goodbye mel

Yesterday was a very sad day at the Farr house. We lost our pet chameleon from some sort of sickness she caught. We had her for a long while and took good care of her which admittedly was a lot of work. But out of nowhere she just stopped eating and we did all we could to help her eat her crickets. She started doing better last week but I think it was just too much for her. Seriously it was the saddest thing to watch and I even considered taking her to a vet to put her to sleep but I tried to make her comfortable and give her some water to drink before she passed. Some may read this and think, "she's not a dog. She's a lizard." While this is true, I am a sensitive human being and get attached to everyone; animals included. I cared for this animal everyday and always had a genuine concern for her reptile happiness. I was texting Nellie and she said, " I bet she's in chameleon heaven." which was the best piece of comfort ever. Tears were shed and I think we might only have plants for a while because they won't break my heart. 

On a happier note tomorrow is Thanksgiving and what a wonderful time to enjoy the company of family and be grateful! With all my family living here in AZ I've grown up having two Thanksgivings and now that I'm married I have three! I don't know how we manage to make it work but I know it's a blessing to have so many loved ones to be with from different families and cultures. On the other hand it is rough keeping up with all that turkey and side dishes. I've been working out hardcore the past few days to physically prepare!

When I think of being grateful I always think of President Dieter F. Uchtdorf's talk called "Grateful in any Circumstance": 

"Perhaps focusing on what we are grateful for is the wrong approach. It is difficult to develop a spirit of gratitude if our thankfulness is only proportional to the number of blessings we can count. True, it is important to frequently “count our blessings”--and anyone who has tried this knows there are many--but I don’t believe the Lord expects us to be less thankful in times of trial than in times of abundance and ease. 

In fact, most of the scriptural references do not speak of gratitude for things but rather suggest an overall spirit or attitude of gratitude.It is easy to be grateful for things when life seems to be going our way. But what then of those times when what we wish for seems to be far out of reach?

Could I suggest that we see gratitude as a disposition, a way of life that stands independent of our current situation? In other words, I’m suggesting that instead of being thankful for things, we focus on being thankful in our circumstances--whatever they may be."