By Pattie Mihalik

As most of you know by now, I am especially thankful for each and every day of my life.

I can never say thank you enough to the Creator for all he has placed before me.

But a nagging thought that creeps in sometime is, sure, I can be happy and thankful because life is good. But would I remain that way if my burdens were far heavier than my blessings?

What if I had unrelenting pain over which I had no control? What if I had very few days left to call my own?

Would my level of happiness and thankfulness change?

I wanted to write about someone who maintained an attitude of gratitude through the most difficult circumstances.

That brought my friend Bobbi Sue to mind.

She is the most upbeat person I know and certainly one of the most caring. She is the person who most exemplified that notion that while we can’t control how many days we have left in life, we can control how we spend those days.

In one short newspaper column, it’s hard to do her justice. But I want to share a bit of her extraordinary approach to life because I believe we can all learn from it.

When you look at Bobbi Sue, you’ll see a beautiful woman with eyes that shine with the joy of life. Yet much of her life has been a rough struggle without the basics most of us take for granted.

“I am thankful for every day of my life,” she says “I’m grateful for every single moment — no matter what I’m facing.”

They say people value something more when they are in danger of losing it.

At 46, the Rotonda West woman has stage 4 metastatic endometrial cancer. While that brings home the message life is limited, it isn’t what gives her a keen appreciation for all of life.

“I was always thankful for my life, even though from the time I was a kid life was hard. At one point we lived in an abandoned house with no electricity or running water.

“There were times when I lived in a car with my mom. Then I was in and out of foster care. My whole life has been a struggle, and I’m OK with that.

“I look back on it as a gift because it’s what made me what I am,” she told me.

She sees those hard times as a gift because it gave her a strong sense of empathy and the ability to be nonjudgmental of others.

In turn, she uses those gifts to help others.

She is the dedicated founder of Project Phoenix, a charity that helps anyone struggling to get by.

Seven years ago, when she finally had a more stable life, she wasn’t content to sit back and bask in what she had.

“I thought of all the people who have nothing and knew my calling was to help them,” she says.

When people walk into the resale shop she operates to fund her work with the poor, they see a dynamo trying to do many things at one time. What they won’t see is the courage it takes for her to be there because of her unremitting cancer pain.

“When it hurts too much to stand up, I just sit more. I will simply not give up because others are counting on me,” she says.

A former model, she has remained a beautiful woman regardless of how her body has been ravaged by several kinds of cancer. Cancer treatments caused her to lose all her teeth and her once petite body blew up to what she calls blimp size.

She is always in pain from the tubes that run from her kidneys to outside her body. After kidney cancer surgery, doctors had to put in the tubes after her own failed. The surgery extended her life but causes severe pain and frequent infections.

Yet nothing knocks the smile off her face or her gratitude for life.

“There is always something in which I can find joy,” she says.

Sometimes it’s holding her grandchildren or the fortitude of her husband, Bill. Other times it’s the joy she has when people she helped come to say she turned their life.

“I have so many blessings in my life,” says Bobbi Sue. “It’s a blessing anytime I can help someone.”

With a mother who died at 37 and several siblings who also died in their 30s, Bobbi Sue says she is blessed to get to be 46.

“But my journey isn’t done,” she says. “There is always someone else I am here to help. That is my constant joy.”

She doesn’t rest as she should because she sees so many people who need help. With just the help of two friends, she started a Tuesday night dinner for the homeless, the lonely and anyone who needs food and fellowship.

While she doesn’t know how much time she will be given, she does know she will spend that time making life better for others.

No matter what comes her way, her smile and her keen sense of gratitude remain, showing us it is possible to be thankful for life, even in challenging circumstances.

I feel blessed whenever I can be in her presence and thankful for what her example teaches.

Contact Pattie Mihalik at newsgirl@comcast.net.