Remember to say ´´Thank you.´´

Gary and I have been in Spain for the last few days, staying with Miriam and Pedro in Estepona. It is lovely to stay with a Baba family, to be able to wake up and see His pictures in all the rooms, talk about Baba and just enjoy being with people who know and love Him.

Each morning I feel so thankful to be in this beautiful place, surrounded by the mountains, with the sun and clear skies, all the lovely animals and birds, good company and good food and wine, the opportunity to relax and recover.

Giving thanks has become a very important thing for me personally. I was given a book, ´Attitudes of Gratitude´, and was really moved to remember to be grateful. However, the thing that most impressed me to remember to give thanks is the example of Eruch´s last day with us. On the night of 30th August he made it a point, even more than he did each night, of going around saying thank you to each of us. To our maid Kesar, who had been with the family since before I was born, and who cleaned his potty regularly, he not only said thank you but he also asked her to forgive him for all the trouble he had caused her. He thanked his brother and sister for their love and care, thanked me for preparing food that he enjoyed eating... everyone who had done anything for him was thanked. He then went to sleep and after a brief crisis, passed into his Beloved Baba´s embrace. The whole story of his last day with us is a beautiful account of the ending of an exceptional life, but I´ll tell it another time.

I didn´t used to say thank you enough or often. I took people and their love and kindness for granted, and even as my due. Arrogance - but I was that way, and it took me a while to realize that I often hurt and upset people by being like that. Also, sheer carelessness. Eruch was Baba´s own personal companion and his attendant. He could have made much of this position in life, but he never did. Instead, he was always ready with words of appreciation and thanks. His example, more than anything else, reminds me to say ´thank you´ to my family and friends, my colleagues and the people I meet in my day to day life. Most important, it reminds me to say ´thank you´ to the greatest giver of them all, Meher Baba! Thank You, Baba.