It’s Christmas! Which is full of awesomeness and glitter and also a lot of conflicting emotions and sometimes depression, which seems even worse than normal because it’s a day when you’re supposed to be happy. But that’s okay because it’s just a day, y’all, and I’m giving you full permission to be joyful, or nostalgic, or sad, or to avoid people who make you feel like shit, or to be happy in spite of the fact that the holidays are full of weirdness. I am glad that you are in the world and I’m toasting you right now from my own quiet house. It’s a time to be thankful for the things that are going right in the universe and to lock yourself in the bathroom with a small flask of schnapps when things get overwhelming. It’s a time to dance in your living room to songs that make you happy, or watch zombie movies and eat Chinese food all day. It’s whatever it needs to be for you.
It’s also a good time to remind ourselves of the awesomeness in the world and I’m doing that starting with a quick recap of the 6th Annual James Garfield Miracle.
(That’s James Garfield, above, in his festive finery.)
This year (in just a little over a week) we collectively gave over $85k to help children. That includes giving presents to kids who might not otherwise get them, donating to Heifer International, and giving over $30k to Project Night Night, who will use our donation to put a bag with a stuffed animal, security blanket and a book into the hands of 1,200 homeless children. In the six years we’ve been doing this some of the kids who were helped that first year are now old enough to help others, which makes me feel very proud, happy and also more than a little old. In the last 6 years more than a quarter of a million dollars has been given by this community to help others. No sponsors. No middle-men. No special recognition or fancy graphics or pleas for help. Just people directly helping people because it made them happy.
What the shit, y’all? That’s amazing. My email has been full of awesomeness (which is a wonderful gift to me because I’ve been fighting off a bit of depression myself) but I thought I’d share this one because it’s one of my favorites:
“I cried every night for a week when I realized that an unexpected bill had decimated the plans I’d made to get my kids presents this year. I told my kids that there wouldn’t be much for Christmas this year but that our Christmas present was that we had a roof over our heads and that we were together. They were as understanding as kids could be but I was heartbroken and felt like a failure. I left a comment on your blog hoping that I could get a warm coat for at least one of them and within a day so many people gave help. Packages started arriving this week and it made me cry again. Happy tears. When my youngest asked why I was crying I told her that I’d gotten a Christmas miracle. There are two new coats under the tree for my little girls, plus three toys and two books that I can’t wait to read to them. I was able to thank some people but some of the packages didn’t come with any notes saying who the presents were from so I’m sending you this email so you can maybe pass it on and tell whoever saved Christmas for my girls that they gave me a gift so much bigger than they probably know. Thank you for this grace, in helping me keep them safe and happy and for reminding me that people care. Next year when I’m back on my feet I can’t wait to pay it forward. I will never forget this.”
Ditto.
Thank you, everyone, for another year of craziness and kindness. You are the best kind of people and I’m lucky to have you in my life.
PS. A special Merry Christmas to my parents, sister, grandparents and all my other family members that I won’t see this Christmas. I love you guys more than cheese. We’re with you in spirit.
Merry Christmas, and thank you for another year of pure awesomeness and honesty. You regularly restore my faith in humanity.
Merry Christmas Jenny 😃😋🍽🔪🍴🐓🐖🐄🐏🍺🎁🎅🎄⭐️🌟🖖
Merry Christmas!
I don’t think I’m going to stop crying until I get back to work on Boxing Day. You, Jenny, and all of your amazing, generous readers, are so phenomenal. I sure wish I could have been one of those to help out, but I’m just sitting here pinching pennies (well, really, just “budgeting” like crazy) so that we’ll make rent in January. I mean, no worries, we will. But I spent a total of less than ten dollars on Christmas this year, so that I could feel like a human being at work and participate in Secret Santa.
I hate the obligatory spending of the holidays (and I’m glad to have managed to move out of that cycle). I hate the cold weather, and I hate the darkness. I would like to just curl up into a ball and cry. Thank you for hosting the Saint James Garfield Miracle, lo, these many years. It helps keep me vertical.
I’ve been fighting some depression, too, along with an awful lot of anxiety. Reading your blog always helps. Thank you. Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas to you, Jenny, and all of this wacky, unique, and loving community!
Merry Christmas. We weirdos kick some righteous ass, don’t we? The Force is strong with this bunch.
<3
I’m one of the individuals that got help from so many wonderful people. When I put together a list for my son I never imagined that within hours everything would be bought and delivered to me. I passed some of the gifts along to a friend who had to flee her abusive husband with their 5 children. Despite my car needing $900 in repairs, this Christmas has truly been a miracle for me.
Happy Merry.
… and thank you for being a weirdo lodestone. You’re awesome.
Merry Christmas! Take care of yourselves as you are all amazing and more than deserve it.
Merry Christmas! Take care of yourselves as you are all amazing and more than deserve it.
Merry Christmas! I’ve said thank you before for the donations you made to my family and I’m saying it again; it came at a time when it was most needed. I’ve been off my meds all week, to give my system time to reboot before my next round of meds begin in the new year. I’ve been unable to interact with others as well as spend any time with loved ones, and it’s not pleasant for anyone. Yesterday I came down with a cold and my nose is a faucet. I won’t be able to be “present” this year with my family but they’ll have their gifts, and it’s all because of your wonderful generosity. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Merry Christmas Jenny! You and this tribe make me believe that people might not all be shitheads. And that’s the real meaning of Christmas, no?
I read your posts first every Christmas morning. Thank you for leading the way along a meandering path through the creepy dark woods and making it ok to not quite know where we’re going but being cool with it anyway. I hope your holidays are kind and easy. Much luvs. <3
Merry Christmas, Jenny, and to all the members of your family, whether they be fur-bearing our not. I’m looking forward to your 2016 blog posts and many more of yourconversations with Victor.
Merry Christmas to you, Jenny ! And to this wonderful tribe of misfits (and normal people, if there are any) ! I hope you and your family have a wonderful holiday !
Merry Christmas, Jenny! I received a Surprise package of Cookies on Dec. 23 w a loving card attached. I went to Candlelight Mass last night, feeling blessed that ‘someone’ Very Special in your Tribe sent me “much love” this difficult holiday. It meant So Much to me, thank you ALL. & PS Happy *Early 🎂 to You, from a fellow Capricorn!! My anxiety, CFS/Fibromyalgia are getting me down. Your blog makes me feel better All the time, for which I am grateful. Love you for being brave & funny….Sending wishes for a brighter New Year! 🎉
Merry Christmas Jenny!! Thank you for the brilliant words you write and your support of all the misfits in the world. Your Christmas miracle work is beyond amazing and it touches me to see all the goodness in the world. xo
Awesome! Merry Christmas to all, and remember: depression lies, even on Christmas.
Thank you and Merry Christmas! I was lamenting my alone-ness again today (and especially that I somehow managed to forget to buy booze and snacks to get myself through it), BUT I found a bottle of bubbly in the house! The kittens are snuggly and loving as ever. Things are looking up!
Merry Christmas to everyone who celebrates!
Merry Christmas and thanks for a year of hilarious fun…. I always feel better after reading your blog, your books, or seeing your photos!
Thank you for your awesomeness! I’m home alone and sad but also now happy that so many someones out there have wonderful packages to open up.
Merry Christmas Jenny. You help me to see glimmers of light instead of complete darkness. Beautiful stars in a night sky. xo
Merry Christmas! I’m so thankful that I found you, and this community, at a most opportune time in my life. You have helped me more than you can possibly know and I am now looking forward to the wonders and possibilities of 2016. Wishing you all good things and abundant blessings!
Jenny, is it too late to get in on this? I’ve been feeling sorry for myself because I’ve been unsuccessfully hunting for a new job since June, but I’ve realized that we still have it better than some, so I’d like to help someone else.
Merry Christmas to you, Victor and Hailey. And thank you for making me smile every day and for making me actually laugh out loud pretty often.
(Project Night Night delivers toys, blankets, and books to homeless children all year round and they always are happy to be able to help more kids. ~ Jenny)
Now I am weepy. Merry Christmas all.
I love this so much. I had plans to donate, but my family was hit with two unexpected deaths since thanksgiving, and I needed to take two trips to be with family when we needed to be together. I did what I needed to do and will worry about those bills in January, and in honor of my two beloved uncles, I will be donating next Christmas. They both had huge loving and generous hearts, and I know they would approve. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays to all.
Wow! Just WOW! Thank you again, I can’t say it enough. That was amazing! Merry Christmas!
Thank you for being you, Jenny. So very, very you. It helps so many people, just that “simple” thing. So keep being you, and all of you others keep being yourseves too, and we shall all get through this together my tribe.
I’m just now catching up on posts; reading about this Christmas project is just so very encouraging. This is exactly what I needed to hear right now, as is often the case with Bloggess’ posts. Keeping up so much positive energy for the kids/family/friends is exhausting and I struggle with it – every.single.stinkin’.year. I’ve tried downsizing, upsizing & just about anything else I can think of, but have come to the conclusion that holidays are that tough & now just ride it out any way I want. Keeping it ‘between the ditches’.
I am grateful I do not need financial help this year (despite many setbacks) & I’m planning to contribute next year.
thanks,
Kristie
What a wonderful thing to share. Thank you and Merry Christmas!
Heart: three sizes, grown.
I didn’t have the chance to do anything here (that whole end-of-the-semester business), but I did get the name of a 13-year-old boy in a homeless shelter through my job, and got him almost everything he asked for, so hopefully he’s having a much better Christmas than he expected. (Kids that age are apt to say things like “Nah, I’m cool, take care of my sister/brother,” but it really does mean a lot to them to get something, even if it did mean I was flagging down random strangers in Target, asking them “Does this look like something a 13-year-old boy would wear?” 😉 ) It’s a pretty quiet Christmas here; roommate just left for NH w/his family, but I’m heading out to dim sum in Chinatown soon w/friends, and I’ve got a warm bed and a purring kitty to come home to, so there’s that. Merry Christmas, Jenny, and thanks for everything you’ve done and do! hugs
Merry Christmas, Jenny and to all of you Magnificent Bastards, too!
Your James Garfield Holiday Miracle resulted in one amazingly happy little boy this morning. I wish you could see him even now. AJ loves all of his gifts, is going crazy about the books and shoes, and is bouncing around the house after not having slept all night. 🙂
Thank you all for making this happen! Next year it will be my turn to treat. I love you for all you do, Jenny! And I love James Garfield’s elves who made this Christmas truly special for AJ.
XOX
Thank you, so very much, for being here for all of us.
thank you, Jenny for giving us this wonderful, crazy, disfunctional, loving, messed up beautiful tribe. You are our leader and our cheerleader and let us hold your hand when you need it and hold ours in turn
You are an inspiration and a joy and I thank you
Thank you for getting me a message in my dark moments. Today is especially hard because of all the fake push to spend time with family. Well my animals love me the way I am and they are waiting patiently for a walk, so we’re outta here! But first I made a contribution to night night and I’m smiling
Merry Christmas! Take the day off and enjoy, or hide, as the case maybe…
Merry Christmas. This is my first Christmas without family. It just got a little brighter
A huge hug to everyone in this tribe! I have felt your love and support over the years and I hope you feel mine.
Thank you for getting us a message in our dark moments. Today is especially hard because of all the push to spend time with family. Well my animals love me the way I am and they are waiting patiently for a walk, so we’re outta here! But first I made a contribution to night night and I’m smiling now. Stay true to who you are. Happy, Merry
Thx for the snot-blowing-cry. I feel much better. That Christmas letter was awesome and now I am ready to face the day
Thank you for bringing us all together, for the effort you put in to make our lives better, and for inspiring us to be better people, ourselves. You truly are like Mother Teresa, only better. =)
Ah, the power of community. This outpouring of support is the true meaning of Christmas.
Christmas has become a day full of expectations and family gatherings, and maybe you don’t have it in you to gather, or you don’t have family to gather with, and it feels sucky. What to do? Just be. Just be in all that suckiness. Lean into it like a buffalo into a storm and you will pass through. We will all pass through. We might be unable to see each other because of that storm of suckiness, but we’re all there, leaning in, not running and letting the storm follow. We’re leaning in because we know that if we keep trudging, on the other side is that hand we were reaching for, that Jenny Lawson, that anonymous someone who is having a snot-blowing-crying day and understands. And once the storm is behind us we can see clearly again the love and support and goodness that was there all along.
Merry Christmas, Jenny, and all the Lawsbians. 🙂 I was trying so hard to get in the Christmas spirit this year and it seemed that my friends were the ones sucking all the joy out of it for me…and then luckily I came here to read this and my heart is overflowing and the depression has been locked in the cellar for the time being. I think it’s even eating fruitcake and those stuck-together ribbon candies that my grandparents always kept in a bowl during the hols.
I wasn’t able to contribute anything here this year, but I did organize a Xmas brunch for 200 men at a local homeless shelter. Sometimes it is time or money. This year it was time. I don’t celebrate this day myself but I wish all who do the best and the truest values of the day today and everyday.
The James Garfield Miracle was a miracle for me, too–I’ve been fighting a depression and I just wasn’t feeling Christmas this year, not at all. And then I came to this blog and looked at a whole lot of wishlists and I bought some presents for total strangers. And I felt kind of good and twinkly. Love this tribe. I’m so thankful I found you.
Merry Christmas to you Jenny and to all your loyal subjects. This has been the most challenging year of my life (thank Baby Jesus it’s almost over). Your humor in the face of adversity is so inspiring and uplifting. Busting out the Walking Dead dvds is definitely in order, a zombie apocalypse always puts things in perspective.
Merry Happy to you, Jenny. And Calm/Bright/Safe/Healthy to you, your family and our whole awkwarding tribe. Loves!
Thank you for being you. You are awesome. Even when you don’t believe it. (And that goes for ALL OF YOU OTHERS TOO!)
I cannot muster more than ‘Merry misfits’ and thank you for what you do for the world tribe.
The St James Garfield Miracle is, indeed a miracle. I have barely made it through a quarter of the comments on there (for some reason I keep having to wipe away tears while smiling) and now I expect that I will be reading comments on this thread as well for awhile. Merry Christmas to all of you: Jenny, for your incredibleness (and your family), and all of the givers and recipients of the Miracle.
Y’all seriously saved our Xmas, I can’t even begin to thank everyone enough! ❤️❤️❤️🎄☃🦄🦄
You are amazing! I’m glad you are on my planet.
Top 10 Funny Moments in Bundesliga History Advent Calendar 2015 Number 22
Never happier to be a magnificent bastard! I gave to Night Night, but also did an adoption thing through work, getting Avengers stuff for a 3-year-old. Because BY GOD, THERE SHALL BE SOME NATASHA/BLACK WIDOW ALL UP IN THIS SHIT IF IT KILLS ME. (Success, too!)
It is corners of the internet like this that let me say to those who are all “Technology has made us more isolated than ever,” YOU ARE SO FULL OF SHIT, MOTHERFUCKERS!!
I just got through a lovely Christmas afternoon saying nothing worse than one “shit,” so I appreciate this opportunity to off-gas some cussing.
Thank you for taking the time to post something on Xmas. It makes a difference for us who hit a little hardness on this day. Your writing never fails to put a smile on my face.
Jenny, thanks for your bravery. To step out each day and guide your sisters and brothers even when you don’t think you can make it yourself. Be gentle with yourself and keep helping the christmas miracles happen.
Merry Christmas Jenny, I hope you and Victor had a great day with maybe just two arguments or less.
Well, that email made me cry, and my Precocious Daughter got me your latest book for Christmas, so I’m pretty much used up now. As always, thanks for emotionally ruining me. hugs
Merry, Merry Christmas, you amazing woman!
It was good to give to little people. I feel so glad that I could give something to others. And, I am grateful for you, Jenny. You organize this miracle and remind us of all we can do to help others and that by helping others we often help ourselves the most. You are funny and full of wisdom and I am so very grateful that you keep writing and sharing and reminding us all that depression lies. I can’t wait for the next book! Oh, and because I’d read “Let’s Pretend” as a library book, I asked my kidlings for a copy. I now own both of your books and can’t wait to re-read them. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Jenny, between James Garfield and the work done by The Compassion group of Elizabeth Gilbert and her posse, I think we might have a hope of saving this god-awful mess that we call our world. I’ve spent Christmas alone, my choice, but I wish I could be reconcilled in some way with my family in the coming year. We have absolutely nothing in common but it would be nice to have a Christmas card relationship with them. Your tribe and the Compassion posse make me know that I have a good place in this world. That there are others who understand and appreciate my unique gifts. I discovered your blog when I was to ill to leave my house for almost 2 years. Through you I learned that I had a story and it was worth telling. I sincerely don’t know what I would have done during that time without by blog “friends.” I’m dealing with some depression right now, too. We will make it through and know great joy again just around the corner. I stumbled across a woman’s work that I think you might enjoy. Here is her website: http://www.doodlebubbledesigns.com/new-products/badassery-wall-art-print
Reading the email from the gift recipient made me teary. I am so thankful St. James Garfield (and his priestess, The Bloggess) helped us all come together (as always), to help each other. I love Christmas, and have some wonderful memories of family members who are no longer here. But they were each very generous people who taught me what a blessing it is to do something for someone else. Some of them struggled greatly with depression. At least one of them listened to the lies. Jenny, it must be both a gift and a burden to have so many of us looking to you, but you are nothing but sunflowers and summer days to us. Straight from my heart, and in memory of those no longer here, love and Merry Christmas, y’all.
I’m struggling af today, feeling like nothing I have done for my family is enough and that my kids are disappointed with our holiday. Fighting the nastiest cold in bizarre bipolar weather has taken a further toll on my already-decimated-by-unemployment and depression-riddled psyche.
But I’m doing my best to remember that the rain will pass, I will get well, and my kids need to know that not every holiday is jolly.
Thank you, you magnificent bitches and bastards, for reminding me that #DepressionLies and #IAmNotAlone. I love you all.
You and Patton – a perfect match!
Patton (as played by George C. Scott): “Rommel, you magnificent bastard…I read your book!”
Merry Christmas to all the warriors!
Merry Christmas everyone! I was sitting here trying to decide whether or not to call my family. The one that pretends I don’t exist. Saw Jenny’s fb post and came over here to get cheered up. Thanks for including the posts from the Miracle recipients. I’m grateful I could contribute this year.
Merry Christmas to my favorite author, favorite family and favorite group of misfits.
Merry Christmas!
People are good. They really are.
Thank you for being yourself, and for running the James Garfield Christmas Miracle! I loved being able to help someone in need. Ended up giving a toy to a stranger in person as well, as I’d ended up with one and it was late enough on Christmas Eve that I couldn’t find any open donation spots. Giving to others is the very best kind of pleasure. Love y’all.
So glad to hear happy stories of those helped! I spent Christmas alone for the first time in my life and I might make it a tradition. I felt comfortable in my own quiet house and I didn’t have to make small talk or seek refuge from the dozen people gathered in too small a space. Tomorrow I’ll be meeting my family for lunch, but won’t be expected to stay for hours or overnight. It has been the best holiday in my 26 years and I’m grateful for the flu that helped me have it.
Thanks for being the catalyst for good, Jenny! Hope you all had a wonderful day.
There I was pretending to be normal again and forcing myself into a coffee shop to sit and drink, err, coffee. All respectable and intelligent looking (in my mind anyway) reading a book whilst sipping on a outrageously expensive flat white; right up until the point i started reading ‘My phone is more fun to hang out with than me’ and my flat white coffee became snotty flat white coffee as it was forced out of my nostrils at high pressure and was generously splattered over the window i was sat next to. It made my day and I was touched by the reaction of the member of staff who tried to help me, thinking i was either having a fit, or had rabies, or both. Thank you Jenny for letting me be me.
Just a reminder
http://thebloggess.com/2014/06/theres-a-moment/
Thanks for being you, Jenny.
jenny, just thank you for being you.
Merry Christmas, Jenny! And tribe. I am more able to be my quirky, dysfunctional self knowing that you are all here.
You Jenny are my personal hero, may 2016 bring you joy and just enough disappointment to make the happiness that much sweeter. Also please don’t forget to create havok wherever you go.
Blessings
Dear Jenny,
I’m becoming a big fan of the British Holiday Boxing day. For years I just heard the term and kiddingly suggested means lying around in your PJs all day playing with the things that came in boxes. I found a article about it this morning and it turns out that it does indeed mean “Lying around in your PJS all day playing with toys or watching huge amounts of sports and eating leftovers”. It’s like the day After Thanksgiving when you have really good turkey sandwiches and can eat pie at every meal because otherwise it will go to waste. All the pressure to have a specific kind of fun-which even when you do have the prescribed kind of fun is tiring, it’s just wonderful to do what makes you feel good.
Part of my Boxing day was reading the Gallblader chapter in Furiously Happy* while my kids work on their lego sets together. They stopped at several points-this is remarkable really they normally won’t stop building legos for an earthquake-to check on me because I’m laughing so hard. Really-deep-deep-can’t-stop-belly-laughs.
I’d upload the selfie I took reading with this post if I had any clue how.
It took a great deal of self control not to buy Furiously Happy the second it came out, but I wanted to buy it at your tour stop. I did at your awesome Corte Madera reading. And since I’m in treatment for Fibromyalgia, which makes thing worse before it makes them better-including more pain but also more depression and anxiety, I’ve been rationing myself to one chapter at a time. This is helped also by loosing the book for days at a time. In any case Furiously Happy is making a hard time better for me. So that’s my boxing day present for you.
And for anybody who’s still reading this comment, and could use a Jennyish** kind of laugh I recommend https://twitter.com/IAmOxfordComma/status/642007471331115008
**Jennyish: An off kilter point of view that reexaminess something you never thought about or resurrects some crazy situation and turns into a source of humor and joy. Like composting. Only less stinky, and better.
The merriest of Merry Christmas’es to you and The Tribe Jenny. There is always so much love here that it feels like my favorite water hole I SLAKE myself here whenever I can’t remember that Depression lies I get so very thirsty & and afraid so often then I hit my bookmarks & bam…here are my people and I am fucking slaked again
Thanks for being the fountain.
Merry Christmas from the existentially fraught 17 year olds at pinksparklynotebook.com!
Merry Christmas to you Jenny. Thank you for all the holiday spirit.
Happy, crazy, sad, zany holidays, Jenny! Thanks for the inspiration and love.
Merry Christmas to you and your family as well. <3
This is my most happy memory https://scontent.fphx1-2.fna.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xlf1/t31.0-8/12314539_1184962914852578_4725797585864994900_o.jpg Well Ok I wasn’t there, but my son and his girlfriend did this for me and it honestly brought me to tears on Christ mas when they handed me the singed book.
#1…LOVE YOU. People thought I wrote your first book but changed my name. SEVERAL people who obviously over estimate me. I do write, however. Like you? I wish.
#2…Depression here for the holidays, as well. My kids were in Chicago with their “father”. I am in Central Texas with my insane husband. My parents are separated but will never divorce because Mom wants Daddy’s Railroad Retirement when he dies, my brother has decided I am a liar and user of unnecessary hyperbole. He is a douchelord.
#3. I am quitting my job and am hyperventilating and spent the day under the covers. My husband is worse off than me.
#4. I have spread the word about both books and forced my Mom to read them. She laughed at poor Rory on the cover and decided that alone would make her read it. SCORE!
5. I’m not a creepy stalker who will drool and pick apart your window screens and giggle like a hyena. (most of that is from To Kill a Mockingbird. Yes, it should be underlined.
Love,
Your doppleganger Helen
Merry Christmas Jenny! You always have something I need to hear on your posts. I am thankful that I found you and your community of misfits this year. Looking forward to all the new craziness coming in 2016!
I LEFT THE MOST AWESOME REPLY IN THE HISTORY OF REPLIES AND THE COMPUTER KILLED IT. I adore you. Um…there was more, but I can’t remember. It was important, too.
awesome!! merry christmas to all! 🙂
You cant help but shed a tear when you read that email from the lady who cant wait to “pay it forward”.. it’s lovely.
God bless the miracle makers. Merry Christmas, Blogess, and all the best wishes for a wonderful and amazing 2016.
I just f-ed that up. Merry Christmas, Bloggess! 🙂
Merry Christmas! Thank you for making this a place that brings people together and creating a safe space for those who need it.
I am a recipient of one of James Garfield’s miracles. Not only were all the books and BOTH stuffed animals bought, effectively emptying our wishlist, but I also recieved 2 Amazon gift cards with the note “a little something for mom”. Because of that, I was able to buy a dress to wear to receive my degree. It was the first new dress I have bought in 4 years. You people have no idea how even the smallest gesture can impact someone’s life. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart
“…and I think to myself… What a wonderful world!”
Your Christmas miracles warm my heart. I generally don’t do well with Christmas, but you helped mine be wonderful. Thank you.
All the giving makes me smile. So does James Garfield. This year for Christmas I wanted time with my family and that’s what I received. Thank you, family!
I’ve made a donation to Doctors without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières, inspired by the kindness I’ve seen here and other places on the internet where giving is celebrated, as well as by giving I’ve seen in the “real” world over the past weeks. You’ve all made me feel like it is possible to reach out in a small way to people all over the world who need help. It’s always a good time to share. It’s never too late to help someone.
Thank you for continuing to put good into a world that too often makes me wonder if there’s any left.
Merry (belated) Christmas, Jenny.
I had put up a list for stocking stuffers (mostly books) and it was filled. I can’t figure out how to thank people through Amazon so I wanted to post here and let you know my kids were over the moon with their stockings full of books and little gifts. You have helped me spark a love for reading in them and now they love helping me read books at night.
I also posted a list for myself and some angel sent me a book on knitting. I create a bunch of stuff for friends and family and whoever all through the year so it will get paid forward! Thank you so much! It was really something to open a gift on Christmas for me 🙂
You are the most fucking magnificent bastard I know. And you know I am saying that in the most loving way 🙂
You pick us up when we’re down – and the miracles your blog has managed for others during the Christmas season is awesome.
Here’s to you and your family – I hope all of you have the most magnificent year ever!!!
Happy New Year!
I’m not sure if you read the comments, or if there’s some robot thing you have that helps you out (kind of like a helper monkey – a helper robot?)…but thanks for making me cry at work. I’m sad that I was gone last week (gone and happy, for a few days)…but you are amazing. Everyone who loves you is amazing.
(I read them. They make me cry. But in a good way, right? ~ Jenny)
I bought some things for a family in Illinois, and kept reading the posts and couldn’t stop crying. So I called my mom and asked her to spend what she would have on my present for another family in Rhode Island that needed gifts for their kids. She did, and put a note in an envelope under our tree that said “Dear Flower, Thank you for my family’s Christmas. Love, {recipient’s name}”
She wrote the note herself, of course, but I cried all over again. Love to all.
I want to thank everyone who gifted for my kids. Also to whomever ordered the Exploding Kittens game on Dec 15, it never arrived. I don’t know how to manage that from a wish list purchase.
An extra big thank you
Jenny for the jeans for my daughter and the no tie laces for my autistic son
I had a bad day today, kind of wanted to punch the world all day because the news make me so angry these days, so I went and read some of the posts I missed in the past few weeks and when I came to this post I just started bawling in public, because yes, there’s good in the world and there’s good people and random acts of kindness go such a long way.
We’ve done well last year, first year since we’ve been married (we got married on a Jul 4th btw hehe) that we’ve been financially stable. So we paid it forward and instead of giving each other big Christmas presents, we sponsored two people to go to a con where attending is a dream come true for both of them that they couldn’t have realized on their own. The event will hopefully be an inspiration for their year and give them joy and hope. It doesn’t feel like much but seeing how excited they are makes me happy.
I love it https://www.amazon.in/gp/profile/amzn1.account.AG2S4ZN2MVLHIZ5N4AS6EUX5UJSQ