Much to be Thankful for

These past two days have certainly been crazy.

Less than 48 hours ago, I heard on the news about the terrorist attacks in Mumbai. I have 2 friends from high school currently living and working there, one of which I'm very close with. At the time, I thought the attacks happened around 1 am there and thus assumed my friend was probably asleep and out of harm's way. She lives with family and has a driver, so I knew she wouldn't be at the train station. I thought there might be an off chance she was at one of the hotel's bars, but since it was a work-night, I assumed she was home. Still, I posted on her facebook wall to make sure she was okay.

Not yet understanding the scope of the attacks, I had a pleasant evening Wednesday. I got off early from work, stopped by Saks, and then met up with Mr. to see the balloons being blown up for the parade. We ate at the Uno's on the upper west side, where we were treated a little like VIPs which boggled us both.

When we came home, Mr. turned on the news and there was non-stop coverage of the Mumbai attacks. I heard that they were singling out Americans and British, which is when I remembered my other friend living there. The friend I'm closer with, while American, is racially Indian and thus wouldn't stand out as an American. Our other friend, however, is a tall white woman with light-brunette hair. So, I posted on my friend's wall again to check in on our other friend.

I was very relieved to wake up to an email early Thanksgiving morning notifying me of a facebook wall post made by my friend assuring me that she and our other friend were both safe. I went back to sleep for a couple more hours before waking up to prepare for Thanksgiving.

I spent the morning watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, cleaning up, and setting the table. I even folded napkins, just for fun. All the while, I spoke to my cousin online, bummed that we couldn't be together for the holiday that used to be the guaranteed time of year we'd get to hang out and catch up.

I then began to prepare our feast and was almost done, when I received a text message from my friend letting me know that her uncle was one of the hostages. I told her I'd be praying for him and her family, feeling helpless that I couldn't do more.

I told Mr. what was going on but continued to finish Thanksgiving dinner. My brother arrived right on time, and the three of us enjoyed the food. I have to say it turned out quite well, with full bellies all around. We then set up the Christmas tree and watched some Curb Your Enthusiasm episodes on HBO onDemand.

When my brother left, I wrote an email of support to my friend, offering my ear if she needed or wanted it. I was relieved to be able to focus on her again after playing hostess.

Shortly thereafter, though, I started to feel miserable all over, discomfort, nausea. I had food poisoning, it seems. Luckily, neither Mr. nor my brother got sick, so I'll still count my first solo Thanksgiving as a success. But, for someone who rarely gets sick, I was miserable. Luckily, Mr. was there to doctor me and to make a CVS run for me. He even cleaned up after me, which is when it's really great to be married to someone in the medical field - they're not easily grossed out.

I sort of napped on the couch for much of the night, when I received a text message from my friend that her uncle had been freed. What a relief!! At that point, with my food poisoning over and my friend's uncle safe, I was truly able to count my blessings.

I ask for continued thoughts and prayers for the recovery of the former hostages as well as for the families of all those affected. The attacks on Wednesday were truly abhorrent and sickening. I wish they had never happened at all.