There is no person that I take for granted…too many changes in my life. Any worthwhile relationsip should be tended with care and love. I do assume my wonderful 3 cats will continue to love me, shed on everything and bother me when I try to read.

I think the wall I can back up against is the creative force, our need to “express”, to “render”…, if not my own work, then that of others. When I enter a museum, any museum, I feel the comfort I imagine many experience on entering a church. I know I’m going to be nourished…I know whatever I see and think about will be worth doing, worth my time..(a big consideration, as I get older). If I ever one day am not able to come home from market with a big hunk of steak, I can always slip in the library and go home with a big, fat book.

I’m not sure I take anything for granted. I get up each morning and then see what happens.

Having been divorced, fired, and in a life-threatening accident, there is nothing that I take for granted, nor is there anyone whom I completely trust, and I’m a perfectly happy, peaceful person.

Like Liz, I take my health and energy for granted. Like Joey on “Friends” when he turned 30 (oy vey, 30!, I’d take 50); when he looked up at said “God, I thought we had a deal, maybe other people, but not me.” It surprises me when those twinges of age show up. When my mind thinks I can still do it and body says: “who’re you kidding?”

I am trying to make an effort not to take anything for granted anymore. I’ve come to the realization that life is short. Enjoy every aspect of it. Enjoy those around you. When my dd first got married and had my dgs, she would call me and we would talk for hours. Then she went and got a job and we couldn’t talk as much. Boy did I miss her conversations. When she first started calling, I would tell myself that I had to much to do. After her calls stopped-I had plenty of time to do the jobs but missed talking to her.

I used to take indoor plumbing for granted - no more. Living as a missionary in the wilds of Guatemala, I saw how billions of people live without flush toilets or indoor water. In some places we had no showers, only “splash baths” - a tub of water and cup that we used to splash are ourselves with cold water. I take our economy for granted that has given me so many opportunities to develop my talents and earn a living. I just assume that it will always be as good as it is. I take the grocery store for granted - 10’s of thousands of products, made or grown, shipped and stocked, so that I can walk up and pluck them off the shelf. The grocery store is a modern miracle made possible by human innovation, societal stability, and capital markets.

At the age of 67, I finally take for granted that I can spend time in my head hating, being envious, dispairing, criticizing etc. and I won’t die or be struck dead for it.

I couldn’t help but notice how many take good health for granted. Up until a few years ago I was taking my husbands good health for granted. He had been in such good health that I was surprised when things started to turn. First, He went through prostate surgery and bounced back very quickly as I would expect. He then had knee surgery and bounced back very quickly as I would expect. It was his knee surgery that started him exercising on a regular basis. He started having chest pain that radiated down his arm with shortness of breath. He forgot to share this with me at first and when I found this out, I immediately became panicky but tried not to let him know just how frightened I was. I can not imagine anyone having a harder time getting their husband to the doctor than I did. He is very educated and knew that he was in trouble. His preliminary tests came out very good to which he had a “see I told you” attitude. The cardiologist said that my husband did not fit the typical personna of someone with a heart condition and since his stress test showed nothing he thought everything was all right but chose to continue testing on the basis that he did not want him to be the man to walk out and have a heart attack. I do not know why we allowed ourselves to believe that he did not have a heart condition but somehow we did. Well when he came out from his heart catheter there was no doubt as to why he was having the symptons. He had major blockage in many of his coronary arteries. The blockage ranged from 75-90%. I can not describe how frightened I was at learning the reality that my husband was going to go through coronary artery bipass graft surgery. It was vert frightening. I was not by any means prepared. I truly relied on prayers and more prayers. He is doing fine. I am happy to share that he went back to work very quickly. I no longer take his health for granted. We are so grateful for have a loving family and all the support they provided. Love your significant other and your self enough to let the doctor know if you are having any heart problems. Remember that for women the symptons are not as typical.

WHEN I WAS YOUNGER AND HAPPIER, THERE WAS MUCH I TOOK FOR GRANTED. NOW I AM OLDER AND WISER, THERE IS VERY LITTLE I TAKE FOR GRANTED.

My health…..and my husband

What a smart, wise bunch! And what a great question! An friend who is(unconsciously) great at malapropisms and such would say, “Take for granite.” For me, life has been a path of discovering what I took for granted by having it not be “granite.” People who were my rocks died. I lost money, lost jobs. I loved ‘em and left ‘em; they’ve dropped me like hot potatoes. My health has failed me again and again; I have survived fires and car wrecks, being shot at and attacked by criminals; I’ve lost my faith in organized religion, because, like in politics, I take it for granted that a bunch of people will start out with plans for a horse and end up with a donkey. (But I identify most strongly with the Vendanta.) My talents have always been there, but they’ve changed along the way. The government is more corrupt that I could ever have imagined — who knew even the Supreme Court would crack? And yet, there is something, something that remains. What? I don’t think I take anything for granted any more, but for granite, I take the family and friends who’ve stayed and lived, new friends I love and trust, the general good will of people, who, like my cat, would prefer to stay in the sun. I believe in the healing power of light and love. I absolutely take it for granted that there are wonderful surprises left for me. I trust that music will bring me back from the brink. I take it for granite that I will never actually have to kill anyone. I believe people have infinite power to adjust, like the sailing craft, to changing winds. I take it for granted that I will always try to do the right thing, even though I’ve suitable evidence that this isn’t always the case. But mostly, I think, as Joanie Baez used to sing, “Be not to hard, for life is short, and nothing is given” to us.