Color me happy and thankful

So this wonderful thing happened to me today I woke up to a notification from Word Press. This made me feel so wonderful, loved, and appreciated.

I truly wouldn’t be here if I didn’t have you readers. You’re the sunshine when my world feels dark and grey. That really sounds like a Hallmark card, but it’s true!!! I feel so much gratitude towards this wonderful Word Press community. I started out a year ago with lots to say and not a clue about what to do except write. Now I’ve been encouraged and inspired to start a Facebook page and that’s growing daily. 70 likes this morning due to the kindness and generosity of a community of very talent wordsmith bloggers. You can check me out here if you wish. https://www.facebook.com/jsackmomblog

I feel the need to express my gratitude because of a few of my blog posts denoting my struggles. Yes my life isn’t always sunshine and rainbows, there’s adversity as well. I was asked by my dear blogger friend how do I it? Well my parents have shown me there’s no other way but to go through it. Even if life gets messy, icky, sucky, and uncomfortable you just keep wading through the muck until you can walk on water. They came from very strong stock my Great Grandparents on my Mom’s travelled over from Ireland to Scotland, to England to Canada. They survived the Potato famine in 1846 when so many did not. My dear Grandparents raised my Mom an only child, in the depression when money and food were scarce, but the love they had was abundant. My Great Grandparents on my Dad’s side came over from a war torn Ukraine where my Great Grandpa’s birth place had become part of Austria. They travelled to Manitoba, Canada and started their family of 14 and survived through long winters, poor growing conditions, and little income. They were able to move into Saskatchewan and find land that they cleared themselves to start the farmstead that still is in my family today. And my Bubba went on to marry my Grandpa and have 7 children who all grew up learning the farming way of life strong, determined, authentic, hard working souls, who paved the way for me to be born into my family of 6 children. My Dad was a logger for 40 + years and the only thing that sidelined him was back surgery and later two cancer diagnosis’s. My Mom had 6 children all various ages, the first 4 very close in age. Then my middle sister and I came along when my parents were in their 40’s. They had 2 kids graduated, 2 kids in high school, a 4 year old preschooler, and me as a newborn babe. I don’t know how not to be strong, independent, and determined. And I must not forget a good dose of stubbornness. ? So yes this is all I know how to do. The live of my elders in my family tree have never been easy, so we just keep on keeping on. Honestly I think my family could’ve made a fortune with these memes.

Ok not the best quality of meme making but you get my meaning. This is how I stay strong remembering my ancestors who came before me. Their struggles, trials and tribulations. We have to remember where we came from, in order to know who we really are. So I’m blessed with a very rich family history that even dates back to royalty in the 16 th century. These incredible people lived through war, famine, disease, and survived to create another generation to do the same. So my strength comes from there love, determination, and community of support. This is why the world is so different today, these communities our ancestors were raised in were small and close knit. Not like the cities today overpopulated, where people stand on the backs of others to climb that corporate ladder. I will leave you with this quote that inspired me to write this blog today.

Small town mentality, help out others!
Big city mentality, help yourself!
That’s why the bind between people in small towns destroys anything the city has to offer!
-Allen Ivancoe

*Image used with permission by the* lovely http://bravegirlsclub.com