Find the good news in the bad

It's tempting to write a column about Penn State. As a mother, child abuse has taken on whole new meaning for me. When I think of an innocent boy or girl being hurt in any way, I experience depths of sadness and flares of rage that I never before knew were possible.
But I don't think I can possibly add anything of much value to the whole debate about who should and shouldn't keep their job or who is or isn't guilty in the whole mess that blew up on Nov. 5 when Penn State's former defensive coordinator was arrested on 40 counts of sexual abuse.
When Jerry Sandusky was being interviewed on NBC Monday night, I was taping the interview with Gabrielle Giffords on ABC.
There's something else I have learned about being a parent: You have to believe there's some good in this world in order to get by.
So, with Thanksgiving around the corner, it's a little fitting that I let Giffords' story inspire me this week.
It's true. Her story also begins from a place of darkness that is hard to fathom. The footage of her stumping shows an optimistic, even if a little geeky, woman -- a woman beaming with positivity regardless of whether I agree or not with her political stances.
It seems like any news or photos of Giffords since she was shot in front of a grocery store in January have been extremely limited. Maybe it's for this reason that I have kept an interest in her plight, being strung along by only a mugshot released here, a brief appearance in Congress there.
Monday's hour-long special finally gave us the inside look at just how much she has struggled these months, and just how far she has come in her recovery.
Her astronaut husband constantly by her side, Giffords truly is an inspiration. What happened to her isn't fair. What she has to go through won't be easy, but she maintains her original optimism even though now the best she expresses it is with simple phrases like "strong, strong, strong."
It's hard to understand why such a tough fate befell a woman with so much promise.
Whatever we're going through might seem tough, but how many of us ever have to recover from a bullet to the brain?
It's hard to hear her story and not be thankful.
Sure, there's lots of bad news out there. The world is a dangerous place. Hopefully the stories we hear on the news will inspire us to be thankful for all that we do have. And maybe, just maybe, they'll inspire us to stand up for what is right in a world where far too few people do.
•••
Other things I'm thankful for:
• A husband who cooks the Thanksgiving turkey.
• A son who says "gobble, gobble."
• Friends who make me laugh and listen to me when I need to cry.
• Parents who are even more impressed by my son than I am -- and who will get to join us for above mentioned turkey.
• A little brother who's grown up to be someone I am proud of.
• All the holiday traditions and memories that are yet to come.
• Contact Jessica Wiant at jwiant@nvdaily.com