It’s a mild October evening in 2014, and I’m sitting on a wooden bench at Rosemount campgrounds in the Lewistown Valley, tapping my feet as I listen to the Good Times Variety Band.

True to its name, the band plays a variety of songs, from sweet ballads to lively polkas.The drummer, Bonnie DeAngelo, sets the beat that pulls people, from toddlers to octogenarians, to their feet to dance.She moves smoothly from the hard, fast rhythm of an exuberant polka to the soft, easy tempo of a love song, her perfectly pitched voice mesmerizing the crowd.It’s now a cold, sunny day in mid-November 2015.Thirteen months later, I’m sitting in the living room of the cozy home Bonnie shares with the love of her life, whom she married in May after 27 years together.I’m listening to a far different rhythm, the soft hiss of a medical air mattress gently inflating and deflating.Bonnie, our strong, exuberant, confident Bonnie, lies motionless, her yearlong battle against glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer, sapping her vitality, her strength, her musical talent, her control and her keen intelligence.She sleeps most of the time.It’s an anguished time for our family, watching her fade, drying her tears as she works hard to speak of her sadness as her time to leave her mortal trappings approaches.But along with the sadness comes joy at seeing the hundreds of relatives, friends and fans who have been stopping by for brief visits over the past few months.A former band director for Shenandoah Valley High School, Bonnie is still teaching.Now, instead of helping teenagers learn music, she’s teaching us the value of gratitude for each precious hour of life.The perfect Thanksgiving lesson.