FROM THE EDITORS February 28, 2005 Issue

THE GRATEFUL HABIT

IN RECENT MONTHS, WHAT ARE USUALLY called natural disasters have challenged war zones for a share of the headlines. People have also been simply dealing with frustratingly bad weather. But whether or not conditions are life-threatening, there's been no escaping the fact that fires, floods, earthquakes, landslides, and drought have taken a heavy toll on people's spirits—and lives.

On a frigid afternoon that marked the height of a huge January snowstorm in the American Northeast, the Sentinel talked with two weather-beaten people who would have had good reason to succumb to self-pity, but chose a different path.

One was a woman who was living temporarily in one unheated room without proper kitchen or bathroom facilities. It was too cold to sleep comfortably, and she wasn't feeling well. Nevertheless she said, "I just have so much to be grateful for. I keep thinking about all the friends who have helped me in practical ways during this time, and about the tireless workers out there who are maintaining essential services. I think of abundance, not lack."

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