2025 Blessing Jar

So Christmas before last (2024) our “gift” at church (the church always gives the congregation a small gift usually on Christmas Eve, made by the youth) was a Blessing Jar. It’s a little plastic jar with a sticker on it that says “blessings.” The goal being that we’d write down our “blessings” throughout the year and drop it in the jar. On Christmas Eve we are to open said Jar and remember all the blessing we have received over the past year. I liked this idea and fully embraced it. I didn’t drop a blessing in every day but when something good would happen I’d write it out on the piece of paper, put the date and drop it in the Jar. Even tho I got my Jar on Christmas Eve I dropped in a few in December as little Olia made her way into the world. I also have blessings in the jar for January, Feburary, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, and well December. So I did better than I thought I did looking back on them.  

A few highlights include:

• 12-31-2024- Olia has been discharged, everyone is home and a family of three starts this next phase of this journey
• 1-18-2025 Got up super early and made our way to Pittsview to officially meet Olia in person. She is so adorable. She slept most of the day but was a trooper with being passed around so much.
• 1-21-2025 Mobile got 6-10 inches of honest to God Snow.
• 1-27-2025 I turned xx I’m blessed with family, friends and loved ones who reached out in various ways to say HBD. I keep thinking of my cousins Kevin who didn’t make it to this age (brain tumor). Am I living up to my potential ?
• 2-4-2025 Volkert turns 100 today. A great achievement and one that a lot of companies don’t get to celebrate.
• 2-2-2025 Uncle Ernest passed away today. Grateful that I got to see him back in January when we stopped by after seeing Olia. He made it to 89.
• 4-19-2025 Andrew asked Alana to marry him and she said yes. There will be a wedding in 2026, a graduation too for both of them. Proud of them. She’s lovely and already fits in well with our group.
• 5-12-2025 McNeil graduated with a  doctorate in Pharmacy today.
• 6-8-20205 Golden and I went to Atlanta to see the Stray Kids. I’ve never seen her more excited for a thing ever! I admit I didn’t know them before this but I’m glad she introduced me to them they put on a great show. I had to manually control her light stick cause we couldn’t sync them up but she only noticed that half way through the show
• 7-18-2025 McNeil is a fully licensed Pharmacist! I am so proud of him and how hard he works. The kid is hella smart and focused.
• 7-30-2025 – Mrs. Danley’s funeral was today (Paula’s mom). She had a brain tumor and while her battle was short it wasn’t easy. The boys took it really hard. I’m proud of them tho they both held themselves together when it counted. McNeil sang a song. They both were pallbearers. Alana even made the trip down from school for it.
• 8-15-2025 – Mom had bypass surgery today. It was scary but she did really well. Several friends came and sat with us during the surgery which was nice. I think dad really appreciated it.
• 9-1-2025 – I made it to Dragon Con ! Neil and Dad insisted that I go so I did but I thought about mom the entire time. The day I left she was moved to a room. The following day she was moved back to ICU as her oxygen kept dropping for very little reason. I couldn’t fully focus on DragonCon but we tried to do all the things. I ended up coming back early and mom was super excited to see me. So I’m glad I did that.
• 9-6-2025 – mom and dad celebrated their 55^th anniversary in a rehab room, mom’s getting stronger and that’s the best gift she can give him.
• 9-24-2025 – MOM IS HOME!!!!!
• 10-3-2025 – Andrew and Alana drove home so that we could throw a pumpkin party. I got to carve pumpkins with my favorite people and I’ve never been happier. Grateful this tradition means as much to them as it does me.
• 12-25-2025 – OLIA IS ONE!!!  Or as we say around here … Olia is ONDERFUL. Best gift we ever got.

I like the idea of the Blessing Jar … I plan to continue it into the new year …. What to do with the old ones… I want to save them some how … maybe I’ll find an envelope and drop it in the Jar too. It was fun looking back at them this year. Maybe I’ll do better this year about including more things in the Jar not just the big stuff.

Here’s to a great 2026 for everyone far and wide, I wonder what blessings it will hold. 

Marcy

ARE… YOU….READY?!

The #MonthlongCelerationofGolden starts tomorrow (May 1st). It’s the most wonderful time of the year!

I could explain to you why we do this but Golden did it perfectly when we first started this blog so why recreate the wheel …. Read her post here …

What I will tell you is why I celebrate it. I celebrate it because Golden deserves it. She’s a hard working, fun loving, amazing woman who has battled more demons than even she would admit to and is still fighting. When they told her you’ll have to retire by 30 she was like "nah … fuck that" and proved them wrong. Her body has fought her every step of the way, yet Golden just powers through it, with minimal complaining, but frankly for what she's going through the little bit of complaining is justified.

She’s literally the strongest person I know. I am proud to call her my friend, I am proud to be in her corner and I’m proud to spend a month celebrating all the awesome that is Golden. I've said it before and will say it again, I'm so happy that the AU Housing Board made us suitemates our Freshman year, many random things came together to make that happen and I'm forever grateful for those random situations.

My mother and her mother constantly tell me not to encourage her in this insanity but it’s not insane. It speaks to her personality and for once allows the spotlight to be on her, something she typically shy’s away from. I am making it my mission that this be the best month long celebration yet, cause let’s face it each one has to be better than the last right. Some of my friend’s get week long celebrations but Golden gets an entire month. From May 1^st through the 31^st (her actual B’day) it’s all about Golden !

Throughout the month I’m going to post some of Golden’s “best” blog posts as well as a few new ones of my own as part of this month long celebration cause if we aren’t going to use this blog to build one another up then what we are using it for?! Who knows maybe I’ll get her to come back to the keyboard for a post this month.

So join me won’t you as we celebrate this month by sending her tweets of love and encouragement. It doesn’t take much, a goofy picture that made you smile, which might make her smile; a note to just say hi; any acknowledgement really is what we are looking for so let’s get it going … and kick off Monday May 1^st the right way as we start the #MonthlongcelebrationofGolden     (could we have used a longer hashtag?!)

Thanks,

Marcy @beaslma

Golden @theonlygolden

My Birthmonth is coming....

May is my birthmonth! It's that time of year again, kiddos! That magical time of year where I act like a self indulgent ass for 31+ days!

My BIRTHMONTH IS ALMOST HERE !!!!

YAYYYYYYYY

 

My actual birthday isn't until May 31st but I begin my celebration on May 1st. Well May 1st if y'all are lucky. Sometimes it's leaked into April by a day or two. I've been observing my birthmonth for years now, but I've noticed the past couple of years that more and more people are recognizing not just their birthday but their birthweek and/or their birthmonth. Is it because I started this trend?

I mean, probably.

Ok. Honestly, probably not. It's probably because it seems that in today's society we all think we are each special and important and deserve all the attention. We are each little special snowflakes. Is this why I celebrate my birthmonth?

Not entirely.

It has turned into kind of a self indulgent joke. A way for my family, friends and I to take a serious situation & make it easier to swallow. Not too long out of high school I began to display strange health problems. I was in college at the time and spent alot of time in and out of doctors, specialists, and hospitals. At times I would go to classes through the week drive to Birmingham on the weekends to be admitted for testing sign out and drive 3hours back to college. Thinking about how I had to handle somethings then medically, really makes me realize how far we have come with our medical system. Sometimes (although rarely) I could get a doctor to issue a labwork order to a local doctor so I wouldn't have to drive for blood work. I even went into the university clinic to get labs drawn but before I could produce my medical order the local campus security had me restrained and handcuffed because Gomer fucking Pyle mistook my constantly bruised and needle beaten arms for drug track marks. From that point on I was too embarrassed and so made the drive every weekend. I was tested for anything and everything they could think to test for, by so many doctors and specialists that I soon lost count. They couldn't tell me what I had, only what I didn't have. Fucking helpful, I know. It was stressful, painful, scary and expensive. I began assembling my medical team of doctors. And after months and months and months of tests (routine and experimental) the only thing they were positive of was that my life span was limited. Me and my family were told I would be in a wheelchair by 25 and I "wouldn't live to see a 30th birthday".

I think my mom handled it the hardest. Everything became a potential "last memory". At this point it's probably important for you to know I HATE having my picture taken. Absolutely HATE! With all the fires of hell. But my mom felt that she need document every damn thing. We had to have cheesy ass pictures made because what if it was the last time she had a picture of the whole family? What if this was the last time you have an Christmas walking? What if this is the last time you and your brother are able to stand next to each other? What if this is your last birthday?

For the next few years as my health ebbed and flowed, my birthday became dreaded because it was one less year we were able to have together. My days were numbered and a team of extremely well educated and highly paid medical professionals had stamped me with an expiration date.

And fucking frankly I got tired of it.

So instead I revolted!

VIVA LA REVOLUCIÓN!

If it was going to be be my last, I was damn well going to enjoy it. Pack as much fun, as many activities and as many parties as possible into my day. Which quickly began to spread into days, weeks and then all month. Instead of having my mom cry for days leading up to it, I started calling her on May 1st, "Its the first day of my birthmonth, tell me happy birthday! Let's go buy something frivolous & eat cake!" May 2nd, call mom.. "it's the second day of my birthmonth! Tell me happy birthday! Let's go have our nails done!" And so on and so on. When my brother & his wife had kids mom wanted me to be able to make as many memories as possible with them, in case one day it was all they had left to know me by. So I started making my whole family (and Marcy whenever possible) go with me to the zoo for my birthday weekend.

Why the zoo?

Because I fucking love the zoo, that's why!

All this celebrating didn't really keep my family and friends from silently dreading my inevitable impending death but it did kind of create a way for them to deal with it. And it provided me the opportunity to instead of fearing death to celebrate life.

My body breaks down, tears up and at times absolutely was worthless. But meds and stubbornness are amazing bedfellows. 25 came and I wasn't wheelchair bound! So that birthday was a celebration! As 30 approached we celebrated harder each year because it was likely to be my last birthday. The year between 29 & 30 was like waiting any moment to fall over dead. But contrary to the expensive over paid, overly educated medical professionals I did reach the 30th birthday! And an entire group of people let out a collective breath that nobody was willing to admit we had been holding.

Since then, each birthday I have has turned from a sad potentially last ever, to a celebratory 'we made it' month long party. There are days that I feel like I can barely contain the pain within me and there are days that I barely have pain. But whichever day I'm having, I have surpassed my life expectancy. And that's worth celebrating.

So when it comes to my birthday I tend to go overboard. If you know me personally or follow me on social media, I am so sorry for my dumb ass self indulgence. It helps me and mine deal with serious life issues, but that doesn't mean that we can't celebrate. I can dance so I'm going to and I want everyone I know to join in. So until we all get sick and can't stand any more let's eat cake and celebrate!

Happy Birthmonth to Me!

-golden (@theonlygolden)

Ps-if you don't mind some goofy silliness please feel free to follow me on twitter for my birthmonth celebration and join in the revelry!