thankful

i explained to them that one of the most important things is just to be thankful. i said the hard part is to be thankful for everything - even the hard stuff and the sad stuff. it seemed to be a new idea to them but they eagerly accepted it.
and he said to me while i knelt beside his chair that he was thankful for God's creation and for people. but, he said quietly, i'm not thankful for some things and i'm not thankful that i don't see my dad anymore. and my heart bled and broke for him - for this - and stumblingly i said how sorry i was and i thought about a way to be thankful for something like this but i couldn't think of any. how to be thankful for this? and i still don't know.

i wished i could've held him in my arms the way i'm holding him in my heart.

we will not break forever. and soon, very soon i hope, sadness will be far away.

"in the world you will have tribulation. but take heart; i have overcome the world."