Seeing as its Thanksgiving Weekend, I challenged myself to find at least five things I’m grateful for this year. Not gonna lie, I struggled for a while because your first thought is all the challenges you’re facing. But as you’ve probably heard countless times, there’s always something to be thankful for and believe it or not, someone somewhere is having it worse, so here goes. Life. Aren’t you glad you’re still here when so many have passed on and not just to Covid-19 but other illnesses, fires, storms, crashes, police brutality or war, because there really are a thousand, if not more ways to die!

I thought of Kobe’s widow, Vanessa, and just how she struggled to eulogise not only her husband but 13-year-old daughter too. How do you even begin to heal from that kind of pain and loss? Not to make this entirely about celebrities, but there’s a poignant picture of a smiling Kobe and family last Thanksgiving, a picture of health and happiness, not knowing it would be his and Gianna’s last. We’re still here and should be thankful for that. But it’s not even just being alive. Many of us are relatively healthy. You may suffer the odd migraine or cold but nothing debilitating.

I can only imagine the stress of having to deal with a medical emergency that requires hospitalisation, like a major surgery or pregnancy during a pandemic, and yet there are thousands of new mums and parents out there trying to coordinate doctors’ appointments and check-ups amidst lockdowns and curfews, on top of medical bills which have soared over the last few months! If you caught or are down with something, know that I sincerely wish you a speedy recovery. Also glad Africa hasn’t been as badly hit as had been projected.

God must surely be watching over us because had Covid-19 swept through our overcrowded communities, it would have wiped us out in days! I heard some isolation centres and treatment facilities are now even closing or reverting to regular hospitals. What great news because our hospitals wouldn’t have coped had infections risen yet we have more than enough issues to deal with already. And thanks to WHO and the likes of Angela Merkel and Bill Gates calling for affordable vaccines to be availed to the developing world because the way these ‘rich’ countries are buying up what’s been produced so far might mean we end up getting nothing.

Guess it makes sense since they have more active cases but still, they shouldn’t clean out supplies just because they can afford to. Speaking of which, a quick thank you to everyone who isn’t panic buying essential goods. May have more to do with our finances than compassion for others but whatever, as long as I find disinfectant, sanitiser and toilet paper when I go shopping, we’re good. What are you thankful for?