Writer's Journal: Gratitude
Kennebec Journal & Morning Sentinel Saturday, July 28, 2007

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For many years, when I sit down at my dinner table -- with children, with other family, with friends -- we begin not by eating, but by saying our “thankfuls.”

It’s a form of blessing over the meal, but it’s also something more. It’s a way to acknowledge the good fortune in our lives, the small and large things for which we’re grateful every day. So on one day, my daughter might say she’s thankful that she was finally able to master paddling figure eights solo in a canoe; a friend might say he’s thankful for the meal we’ve cooked for him; and I might say I’m thankful for the pleasure of sitting down to dinner with a sweet daughter and a good friend.

But these days, after spending almost six months talking about hunger, after interviewing people across the state, after reading through several feet of reports and hundreds of websites and filling a special office with so much research material that one of my colleagues stopped by and asked, “Is someone doing an audit in here?”

I think that our thankfuls at dinner will simply be that we are grateful for the food we have on our plates and in our pantry. Until I did this series, I had no idea what a privileged life I led.

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Elaine Belcher of Winslow, ME
Jul 28, 2007 7:24 PM
I have been following this series all week and would like to know what I can do to help these people. I know what I can do is limited, but surely there is something I can do for someone. Please tell me where I can deliver green peppers and asparagus and know that it will go to the people who requested them. I would be more than happy to deliver these items myself, if they want me to know who they are. These articles have more than made me realize how sad it is that some people go without. I would also like to provide some fresh veggies to the Hagerman's. I raised two children on my own; I worked 3 jobs at one point. I was never eligible for anything, but I did see people abuse the system. That's not to say that everybody abuses it. If they are smokers, it's not all that easy to stop. Give them a break. PLEASE let me know how I can contact someone to help.report abuse

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