The Gratitude Journal

July 12, 2022

· I’m grateful for a beautiful girlfriend who gave me this wonderful gratitude journal (please note the sarcasm. Sarcasm on the word wonderful, not on the word beautiful).

· I’m grateful you’re only making me use it once a month.

· I’m grateful for the sunset we saw today (and that you told me to write that, because I couldn’t think of a third thing on my own. Why do you like sunsets so much anyway?)

August 12, 2022

· I’m grateful for the fun date we had last night at that delicious (yet slightly overpriced) restaurant.

· I’m grateful to be dating a girl who can make me laugh like no one else can.

· I’m grateful that month two of the gratitude journal is now complete.

September 12, 2022

· I’m grateful that you have such a wonderful memory, to remind me to write in here every month (note the sarcasm again).

· I’m grateful that our relationship is deepening and that we get to spend so much time together.

· I’m grateful that you help me see the beauty in life that I often miss.

October 12, 2022

· I’m grateful that I had a birthday last week, and that you made it amazing!

· I’m grateful for a girlfriend who is so thoughtful and kind and caring in so many ways.

· I’m even grateful (no sarcasm this time) for the awesome new pen you got me that I can use to write in here with (it really is an incredible pen. You know me so well!)

November 12, 2022

· I’m grateful your mom invited us over for Thanksgiving dinner this year, because she’s a way better cook than my mom (don’t tell her I said that!)

· I’m grateful that I’ll get to meet more of your family.

· I’m grateful that our relationship is progressing so well.

December 12, 2022

· I’m grateful that I don’t need to shovel snow because I live in an apartment.

· I’m grateful that it’s finally Christmas time, so I don’t need to be embarrassed when you play Christmas music (do you really need to start right after Halloween?)

· I’m grateful that we’ll get to spend so much time together during the holidays this year (my parents are excited to see you again too, they love you!)

January 12, 2023

· I’m grateful that we got to go ring shopping together!

· I’m grateful that you like the simple, less expensive designs.

· I’m grateful you picked out the ring instead of making me do it (that would have been so stressful!)

Febuary February 12, 2023

· I’m grateful that this pen has no eraser, and that February is spelled stupidly (sarcasm again!)

· I’m grateful that you’re no longer my girlfriend….

· I’m grateful that you’re my fiancé!!!

March 12, 2023

· I’m grateful that March is a lot easier to spell than Febuary February (gosh darn it).

· I’m grateful to be engaged to the most amazing woman ever!

· I’m grateful for the beautiful world we live in.

April 12, 2023

· I’m grateful that between you, your mom, my mom, your three sisters, and my two sisters, I don’t have to be involved one bit in our wedding planning (I’m not even sure I’m allowed to be involved!)

· I’m grateful that we’re getting married in July! (Long engagements are the worst. Why do people do that? I just want to be married to you now!)

· I’m grateful for the promotion I got at work (life is just so good to us).

May 12, 2023

· I’m grateful that Costa Vida has some awesome deals this month (you know how much I love that place).

· I’m grateful that we spend every day together after work laughing and cuddling and just being with each other.

· I’m grateful that you make me the best version of myself.

June 12, 2023

· I’m grateful that we get married next month!

· I’m grateful that our parents are footing the bill for the wedding (who knew these things were so expensive!?)

· I’m grateful for the beautiful sunset we saw together tonight (and for a fiancé who’s taught me to appreciate such things!)

July 12, 2023

· I’m grateful to be on our honeymoon together!

· I’m grateful you reminded me to pack my gratitude journal (I’ve officially been doing this for a year! I never thought I’d make it this long. I’m excited for many more years of gratitude!)

· I’m grateful that you’re no longer my fiancé, you’re my wife!

August 12, 2023

· I’m grateful for our adorable little apartment that we share.

· I’m grateful for air conditioning.

· I’m grateful to be married to the best wife ever!

September 12, 2023

· I’m grateful for amazing doctors that caught your cancer when they did.

· I’m grateful for chemotherapy and the positive prognosis you have.

· I’m grateful that you’re always so optimistic and positive, even in hard times.

October 12, 2023

· I’m grateful for a wife who puts effort into celebrating my birthday, even when she’s doing chemotherapy.

· I’m grateful to not be the only bald one in our relationship anymore.

· I’m grateful to still be the only one with a beard!

November 12, 2023

· I’m grateful that the chemotherapy is going well.

· I’m grateful we have such good insurance.

· I’m grateful to be married to such a rockstar who is kicking cancer in the butt!

December 12, 2023

· I’m grateful for the beautiful snow (I know how much you love looking at freshly fallen snow).

· I’m grateful that the cancer is almost gone!

· I’m grateful for your laugh, it never fails to fill me with joy and brighten my whole day.

January 12, 2024

· I’m grateful that we have a new doctor (how could our other doctor have missed that second tumor!? I thought he said you were almost cancer free!?)

· I’m grateful that there is still a decent chance for you to win this fight.

· I’m grateful that you’re there to comfort me through such hard news, even though I should really be the one to comfort you.

February 12, 2024

· I’m grateful for your beautiful eyes that have never lost their sparkle, even through the illness.

· I’m grateful for your continuous optimism, even though things just keep getting worse.

· I’m grateful I spelled February right this time around (I’m starting to grasp at straws here, there doesn’t seem to be much to be grateful for these days).

March 12, 2024

· I’m grateful that you say you don’t mind the hospital food (although it looks terrible to me).

· I’m grateful that my boss is letting me take so much time off to care for you.

· I’m grateful for the beautiful sunset I saw tonight (I wish you could see it from your hospital room).

April 12, 2024

· I’m grateful for your never-ending sense of humor.

· I’m grateful for a wife who keeps fighting, even when cancer seems to have already won (but it hasn’t won yet! You can do this!)

· I’m grateful that we got married, even with everything we’re going through.

May 12, 2024

· I’m grateful for…… nothing

June 12, 2024

· I’m grateful the funeral went well. So many people showed up, you’ve really left quite an impression on this world.

· I’m grateful for God (even though I’m mad as hell at him too, but I’ll keep that conversation in my prayers, not here).

· I’m grateful that I haven’t flooded our quiet apartment yet with my tears (although I think I’m getting close).

July 12, 2024

· I’m grateful my parents let me move in with them, so I don’t have to spend all my time alone in our apartment where everything so painfully reminds me of you.

· I’m grateful my boss let me transfer to work in the city where my parents live.

· I’m grateful I haven’t been fired for taking so much time off to mourn.

August 12, 2024

· I’m grateful for grief counselors.

· I’m grateful that I’m to the point where I can talk about you without crying every time.

· I’m grateful for understanding family and friends.

September 12, 2024

· I’m grateful you made me do this stupid gratitude journal, which makes me remember you in the most amazing (and sometimes most painful) ways possible.

· I’m grateful you taught me how to love the sunsets before you left.

· I’m grateful we have video recordings of your perfect laugh.

October 12, 2024

· I’m grateful to have the most thoughtful, kind, amazing, perfect wife ever! When did you order those Costa Vida gift cards? How did you make it so they’d arrive on my birthday with a note from you? I didn’t know you could order something so far in advance like that! Even when you were so sick that you couldn’t get out of bed, you still planned a birthday surprise for me months in advance. Wow. I cried all day when I got that. Thank you. Thank you.

· I’m grateful I only got a few tears on this page while writing that.

· I’m grateful that I only spilled a little Tomatillo Ranch on this page too.

November 12, 2024

· I’m grateful that you taught me to start listening to Christmas music so early.

· I’m grateful your family invited me over for Thanksgiving again.

· I’m grateful that I smile when I think of you now more often than I cry.

December 12, 2024

· I’m grateful that you taught me how to find joy and beauty in this life. That you taught me how to be optimistic and how to laugh during hard times. That you taught me how to truly live, something you were amazing at, even on your death bed.

· I’m grateful to be married to you, even though I miss you terribly.

· I’m grateful for the absolutely stunning sunset I watched tonight.