The Beginning

A Gracious Plenty:  an abundance; more than one needs

I became aware of this Southern expression when I listened to a book with this title by Sheri Reynolds.  The main character, Finch, now a middle-aged woman, was badly burned as a child when she pulled a pan of  boiling water off the stove.  The resulting disfigurement has defined her life.  Her father was the caretaker at the cemetary of the small town where they lived, and Finch took over his work.  Because Finch has always defined herself by her disfigurement, she has not allowed personal relationships.  Instead, she talks to the dead in the cemetary, and they to her.  The dead have moved beyond the superficiality of appearance, and only with them does she feels acceptance.  Over the course of this transformational story, through the agency of one of her grade school classmates, Finch begins to accept the living and let go of the dead.  During the climactic conversation, her friend says, "....and at least I got some friends."   Finch replies, "I got friends.  Plenty of friends.  A gracious plenty..."  When he demands she name her friends and she does, he says "They're all dead....."  

In another example on a lighter note,  I recently listened to a much more superficial book also set in the South.  The main character,  Miss Julia,  described a male acquaintance of a certain age as having a gracious plenty of wrinkles.  You get the idea.

When I began to search for a title for this blog several months ago, the meaning of this phrase became transformational for me.  As I moved toward retirement, I began to consider my particular place in life.  I realized that through a synchronicity of circumstance, timing, choice and luck,  I was poised to reap A Gracious Plenty. 

I am humbled by this realization.  Certainly I worked for where I am, and am as deserving as anyone who has done the same.  I'm also well aware of the many who have, are, and will continue to work as hard as I ever did and do not have the untold advantages I have.  With that in mind, it is my intention to accept my retirement as a gift,  to live and enjoy it fully, to share it in ways I can only anticipate, and always be thankful for the Gracious Plenty that it is. 

With pleasure, I invite you to join me!