Gratitude shortlist

Tagged by Deju Pseu, here are a few things I'm grateful for. I'm not going to list the obvious: a country of freedom and peace; clean air and water, and so on.

1. Family: A fantastically wonderful husband and sons who turned out to be most interesting persons, and who actually like to eat liver.

2. That I, a self-employed person, have work; I often think of composer Jules Stein's answer to the question "Which comes first, the music or the lyric?", He said, "The phone call."

3. For the people who create beauty, grace and well-being for me and others:

• Muriel Dombret of Clothes, who designs clothes of intelligence, quality and timelessness
• Sheila Cullen, owner of Seven Seeds, my yoga studio
• Donnie Ditchburn at Reinhart MacMillan, stellar hairstylist (and many more.)

4. For those who give comfort and support through their work, both to persons and the community: my mother's caregivers from Visiting Angels, nurses, firefighters, teachers, Helene at the bank, the Meals on Wheels volunteers.
"All you need is love."

5. That Thanksgiving in Canada is the second Monday in October; I like having a little more time between Thanksgiving and Christmas.