I came across this story through a friend's blog



My name is brandy. And I have a blog.

And a plea.

I use my blog to showcase the crazy I meet everyday, share the stories of the kids I teach and document my love for tequila, dairy products and the abdominal muscles of Ryan Reynolds. Rarely do I talk about personal issues on my blog- as personal as the dude that I adore (who I actually met through my blog- single ladies, let that be a very good reason to blog, the possibility of meeting someone as wonderful as my man), but I need your help. And it involves my dude.

He's a guy who made math comics for my class, so they would love learning about addition. He's the kinda guy who sends my friends gift cards when they are having hard times, who remembers every story I ever told him, who was the first person I celebrated with when I got a teaching job. He's the guy who sent flowers to me at school- dozens of my favourite pink roses just because he loves me. He's a guy who has spent a year patiently explaining (and re-explaining) everything there is to know about football during the important games when silence is preferred. He's made me word puzzles and comics and stayed up late playing Scrabble with me (even though I beat him almost every time). He's listened to me cry about school and family and jobs. He is everything I never knew I needed and everything I always knew I wanted.

The holidays have hit us hard. He's recently been told he may have something called multiple myeloma- an incurable cancer, that gives a person an average of five years of continued life. Though this news has came as a shock, he continues to be exactly who has always been- spending his time worrying about me, rather than worrying about himself. He's the most selfless individual I know- (he stayed late on Christmas Eve to work, so his co-workers could leave early) and a post like this would never be something that he would promote or encourage but when I'm overwhelmed and feeling helpless, the blogging community has always given me tremendous support and comfort, two things I desperately need at this time.

As I write this, the future is uncertain and we aren't sure what's happening. He'll need to see an oncologist soon, to verify what's going on in his body. My hope is that everyone who reads this think positive thoughts and if you are a person who prays, could you add him to your list? (You can refer to him as 'brandy's hot awesome dude'). If you don't pray, please keep him in your heart.This cancer is only a possibility and I believe that the prayers and positive thoughts of people can make sure it never becomes a reality.

I want to give a big thank you to the blog owner who scraped their original blog plans and graciously put this up. My goal is to get as many people as possible to see and read this post. If you are reading this and want to help, copy and paste my plea into your blog or send a link through twitter, so more people can keep him in their thoughts. I would be so very grateful (even more grateful than I am to my friend who first showed me the picture of Ryan Reynolds on the cover of Entertainment Weekly. If you haven't seen it, google it. You. Are. Welcome).

I realize this all sounds dramatic, a Lifetime movie in the making- but this is life. Right now. And I'm throwing away any hint of ego and am humbly asking for you to pray or think kind thoughts. If you are able to pass this on, thank you and if you know anything regarding MM- please email me (my email is on my blog). This isn't a call for sympathy or a plea for pity. It's just one girl hoping you can think positive thoughts for the person she adores. If my current heartache provides you with anything, let it be with the reminder that life is short, love is unbending and no one knows what could happen next. Maybe it is silly, but I really do believe that positive thoughts can make a huge difference. Thank you for reading this and if you haven't already? Please tell someone you love them today.

I did.

The boys are watching Action News right now. It never ceases to amaze me how the stupidity of humanity dominates the news. The top stories tonight were about a prostitute, a little girl who got hit by a car, and two kids who were innocent victims in a neighborhood turf war. Granted these are all really sad. It's just the way that the news handles these stories, especially the soundbytes. I was a COMS student, I understand that blood and sex sell, still, can't we just have a well-written, informative newscast for once? It bothers me.

In other news, I discovered this website. I'm not feeling particularly creative this evening, but I'm serious about stretching my writing muscles. A site that provides me with a creative prompt is the perfect way to fight off the lazy and intimidated side of me that would give up and just not post anything.

Tonight, I randomly picked prompt #100, which is "Write for 10 minutes using "I used to think" as your starter. So, here goes. I used to think that college meant figuring out what you wanted to be when you grow up. My senior year of high school, I was so excited to go to college. I thought it would automatically give me direction and purpose. It didn't take me long to discover that this was not the case. College taught me a lot about myself, the world, and how to think critically about what surrounds me.

It just didn't give me that clear "this is what you are supposed to with your life" answer that I thought automatically came with a college education. If anything, my time at Widener left me with more questions than answers. I graduated with a degree in Communication Studies with a concentration in advertising and public relations. All I knew was that as much as I loved studying the advertising culture, I didn't want to work in an agency. I wanted to do something that mattered. What that was continued to allude me.

Life is tricky. Of this, I'm certain. It's also incredibly rewarding. It can be sad and depressing at times. I used to think I was supposed to have all the answers, but I am learning that the best part of life is the journey. It's the not knowing where you are going to end up that drives me to be successful.

I put in my application for Drexel. I still am not sure I know the answer to what I want to be when I grow up, but I'm excited to find out. If you read through this blog, there are a million posts about what I was going to do next. I never followed through on any of them. Now I am pushing myself. Education has always been a passion. I threw myself into school with a commitment I have never felt about the working world. It makes sense to translate that lifelong passion into a career. I don't know exactly where it will lead me, but it feels good.


 

On a completely different topic. Today, I discovered a really awesome feeling. It's the feeling of walking into a place and having it feel like home.  Brian has been househunting lately. We've all considered moving with him (somehow 352 has become quite the family unit), so our help has been requested. A few weeks ago, he and Brandon looked at a place. Anne and I were working, so we couldn't go. Today, we went back to give it a look. Instantly, it felt like home. It had the things I feel are missing from this place. It also had things (like an awesome outdoor entertaining space) that I had not even considered wanting.

I can see myself there. Painting my bedroom. Cooking in the kitchen. Watching movies with my friends in the living room. Growing an herb garden out back. It just fit. Just like Anne fit from day one. Of course it's up to Brian if he makes an offer, since I'm not in the financial situation to purchase a house. It's up to the sellers to accept said offer. Nothing about this place is really up to me. Still, being there just felt good. Warm and fuzzies all over, and that's enough to make this girl happy.