Lord,

Thank you for my husband, Vincent,
Who is kind and loving,
and loves me no matter how screwy I may be.
And understands that I'm obsessed with my website,
That I hate housework,
That sometimes I'm nicer to the dogs than I am to our daughter,
That I like to experiment with his food,
And it doesn't always turn out very well.


And thank You for my daughter, Angela,
who is beautiful and self-sufficient,
and independent
(even if sometimes I hate that and want her to be little again!)
And who knows that sometimes I say mean things that I don't mean,
and sometimes treat the dogs better than I do her,
And forgives me for them and loves me anyway.
I'm also grateful that You gave her the ability to
Understand that I hate to drive
That I don't always want to bake cookies
That I'm not perfect, but I'm her Mom.

I'm grateful that
no matter how selfish or nasty
or any of the 10 million other idiosyncratic things I may be,
Vincent and Angela love me despite all.

And I'm grateful that You taught me
to love despite and not
because.

I especially am thankful
that You helped me find a man
who needed a mother for his daughter.
By giving me this family,
You answered my dreams.

I'm Not Ready!

The Okamoto-Filingeri clan wishes you and yours a very Happy Thanksgiving!