Sometimes, I go out of my way to write pun titles and be all funny and misdirecting about my gratitude blog posts.
This isn't one of those times.
I have a friend, J., someone I have known for a very long time. We lost touch with one another about a decade ago. He contacted me recently to thank me for being his friend, to tell me how much our friendship has meant to him.
He told me that because he was about to undergo some pretty serious surgery that had a 3 in 1 chance of just plain killing him.
The surgery was on the 27th of January. I texted and I called, trying to find out if he made it.
I waited.
And waited.
I checked the online obituaries.
I despaired.
Wednesday, I heard from him. It didn't go without complications. But he came out the other side.
He's alive.
I'm grateful.