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During this past year, my husband and shared our gratitude in a jar.  Throughout the year, we would take a slip of paper and write about our gratitude for the moments in life.  Most days went by without a slip, but we managed to enter ones that had a lot of meaning and really captured the whole year.

The year held illness as noted by my several mentions of how Chris was handling his cancer and chemotherapy.

Gratitude 8  

And his own gratitude that his battle was not as hard as others.  His mother was also battling cancer and getting much sicker on the chemo than he did.  (***Update, Chris is still cancer free after four years but unfortunately, his mother died the year after this post was written.)

Gratitude 1

There was gratitude for friends who were there for us during that time, keeping our spirits up and Cocoashak open.

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And gratitude for the little things.

Gratitude 10

We even took the time to appreciate a beautiful day.

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And our love for each other.

Gratitude 2

As the year drew to a close and my brother died unexpectedly, I was able to capture my gratitude for being there to thank him before he died and later to honor him.

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And this last bit of gratitude that didn’t get into the 2013 jar, but will start off the 2014 jar:  I am grateful my husband and I were able to quietly review our past year together by taking turns reading each slip.  We laughed and cried together, knowing that the next day we would start again.

If you want to start a Gratitude Jar, it’s very simple—get a jar, some slips of paper and a pen.

Gratitude Jar 2013

If the simpleness of that is not enough for you, there are many versions that can be found online by searching for Gratitude Jar.  You can create one for yourself or even buy one on Etsy. Choose something you like, something that will remind you to start appreciating the moments of life.  There’s even a website for Gratitude if you’re more technologically inclined.