It has been almost one full month since I have posted on the result of my May charity!! Shame, shame, know my name. *hangs head* …………………….
Okay, I can’t leave my head hanging or else I won’t be able to see the keyboard to finish typing.
Anyway, if you don’t recall (but how dare you not recall, as it was one of the best days of my life!! 😉 ) my husband Greg celebrated 365 days sober on May 22nd. For the first time since starting this page as my New Year’s resolution, I decided not to ask for donations at all during the rest of the month…I wanted to save it for one very special day~ his 1st Soberthday.
Had our waitress sneak a “1” candle into his French toast 😉
Following a delicious celebratory breakfast of French toast (Greg), a double order of pancakes (me…HEY! I can celebrate too) and chocolate milk with whipped cream and sprinkles (our daughter, who thought it was her special day since she got to skip school), I came home and posted the following request on my personal Facebook page, as well as my blog Facebook page:
“Alright my favorite Do Gooders: you know that I usually ask for my charity donations alllllll month long. But not this month. This month my charity is Arbor Circle, a rehabilitation and counseling facility in my town that works to help get people their lives back when they suffer from mental illness and/or substance abuse issues. They counsel adults. They counsel children affected by the behavior of these adults. They counsel families to give them the tools they need to stay healthy themselves if no one else will. They try to help over 11,000 people a year…and my husband is one of them. They helped us pay for 3 months of outpatient rehab. They helped us find a way to pay off all but $300 of Greg’s astronomical hospital bill, since he didn’t have insurance. They gave Greg an amazing counselor. And the best gift of all was that they gave him the tools to keep himself sober and be a fantastic dad. WE WANT THAT FOR OTHER FAMILIES TOO! So for TODAY ONLY I am looking for the 9 other people that will help me support this charity with their $10.00 donation. I know we can do it. Everyone deserves a chance at a sober day, a clear mind and a happy life. Sometimes we can’t do it on our own. It’s okay to ask for help. Thank you for all of the positive comments and the amazing support ~ we’re reading all of it!! xoxo”
And then I held my breath. Sometimes I never know if something is as important to all of you guys as it is to me. In fact, it has blown me away EVERY SINGLE MONTH that we have exceeded the $100.00 goal. Sometimes just by a little bit, but more often than not it has been by a lot. I expected that a few of our friends and family would see this and want to do something good for Greg. I figured that some of my blog followers would want to donate in honor of someone they knew that has been affected by some kind of addiction. What I was not expecting was the comments, the private messages, the shares, the “Likes”, and the $500.00 that was raised because of that one amazing day. ❤
Friends donated ❤
Strangers donated ❤
My friend Jeanna who writes the page My Children Think I’m Perfect signed up to make a recurring donation over the next year ❤
My friend Melissa who writes Adventures of Ninjamama auctioned off a hand painted glass and donated the money to Arbor Circle in Greg’s name ❤
All of those donations and that support give kids like my daughter a chance to have their parents back. Hell, it can give parents the chance to have their kid back! The donations boost much needed funding to programs that help to support and encourage people struggling with substance abuse and/or mental health issues. It helps kids cope when they are left to witness their loved ones going through all the trauma. It gives hope to people like Amy and Libby and Jeanna and Katy and Greg, who were damn lucky enough to find their way out of the dark and start heading towards light and towards life (which reminds me, THANK YOU AMY, LIBBY, JEANNA, KATY and GREG for sharing your stories this month with my followers and with me)!!! They brought tears to my eyes, and I rarely cry. I hope you’re proud of yourselves 😉
The support and love that our family received will never, ever be forgotten. I try to remind you as often as I can that I can’t do this alone ~ you are the reason that Good Things are happening. When that money is tallied up at the end of each month, I am only responsible for a teensy weensy portion of it. I truly and humbly adore your sudden attack of conscience . Onward!!! xoxo
Hubby’s one year sobriety coin from AA ~ he carries it with him everywhere. The sobriety…AND the coin 🙂
The Serenity Prayer. Tattooed on Greg’s back in hopes that somebody else who needs to see it, will.
My Sudden Attack of Conscience... 