I am so blessed knowing how many wonderful people I’ve met – at all - through this blogging thing, blogging community, blogging lifestyle. So many people from all over the world have touched me with kindness, have inspired me to do epic shit, and have opened my eyes to amazing new relationships, new cities, and new adventures.
Beyond that, there are some relationships that have happened this way that have become strong, fierce, beautiful, irreplaceable, I-don’t-know-what-I’d-do-without-you friendships that have undoubtedly changed my life.
brandy is one of those people. She’s a girlfriend I share long, gushy emails with. And CAPS LOCK EXCITED celebrations of good news. And heart-to-heart advice-giving about the tougher stuff.
Right now, these holidays have thrown her and her loved one a bit of that tougher stuff. She and her man have found themselves facing some potentially bad news this holiday season, and a solid group of amazingly big-hearted bloggers who love her extraordinary amounts are asking, begging, and pleading with our own communities to simply think positive thoughts, remember brandy and her love in your prayers, and to take a quick little moment to wish them the best this season.
And if know anything about or have any resources for her relating to multiple myeloma, please be in contact with her either directly (email’s on her blog), by leaving a comment here, or through me. I’m so more than happy to pass on any helpful information from you to her that I can.
Lord knows I believe in optimism and the power of positive thinking, so I ask that you lovely and wonderful friends, readers, lurkers, family, and blog-family, that you read this letter from brandy below and send every ounce of love and happy and positive energy you can and have to a little corner of MY heart that happens to be hanging out right now in Western-ish Canada.
I love you, brandy. Sending EVERY OUNCE of inner sunshine and hearts and stars I have to you.
Love, Me and My Super Awesome Blog Posse
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
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.
Doniree Walker is an aspiring yogini, jet-setter, foodie, and story-teller. She's a writer and geek girl by trade, and a lover and a connector by lifestyle, and is currently obsessed with: train travel, single-serving chocolate milk, and brand new notebooks. Oh, and she's also part supergirl. Wanna be friends? 
{ 26 comments… read them below or add one }
The strength of the internet is a powerful thing. Here's hoping the power behind blogging brings strength to Brandy and her beloved man.
Brandy, thoughts, prayers, well wishes, and hope are being sent in the direction of you and your man.
Brandy, I am so sorry to hear this, and I am praying for you and him to get through this.
Sending big thoughts in Brandy's direction of both the optimistic and coping variety. Optimism in that for about a month last year, we all thought I had spinal cancer or MS. And the fear surrounding that exacerbated the symptoms. Turned out that neither were true but I've been there. If by “there” you mean two CT scans, an ultrasound, an MRI, the bottom of two bottles of barium, blood work and an accupuncturist. Accupuncture and meditation were by far the two things that helped the most. Just put me at ease and talked to me about the strength in the rest of my body. Awesome.
On the preparation side, CrazySexyLife.com. One of the regular contributors is Jackie Farry who was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma in 2003. So do the math on that one. Kris Carr has a documentary called Crazy Sexy Cancer that I would rent if the diagnosis comes to pass. Totally alternative way to think about cancer, its treatment and life post-diagnosis. I read the site because I find it totally inspirational from a consumption perspective (kale over KitKats) but it's just a great resource. Thinking about both of you, again.
The strength of the internet is a powerful thing. Here's hoping the power behind blogging brings strength to Brandy and her beloved man.
Brandy, thoughts, prayers, well wishes, and hope are being sent in the direction of you and your man.
Brandy, I am so sorry to hear this, and I am praying for you and him to get through this.
Sending big thoughts in Brandy's direction of both the optimistic and coping variety. Optimism in that for about a month last year, we all thought I had spinal cancer or MS. And the fear surrounding that exacerbated the symptoms. Turned out that neither were true but I've been there. If by “there” you mean two CT scans, an ultrasound, an MRI, the bottom of two bottles of barium, blood work and an accupuncturist. Accupuncture and meditation were by far the two things that helped the most. Just put me at ease and talked to me about the strength in the rest of my body. Awesome.
On the preparation side, CrazySexyLife.com. One of the regular contributors is Jackie Farry who was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma in 2003. So do the math on that one. Kris Carr has a documentary called Crazy Sexy Cancer that I would rent if the diagnosis comes to pass. Totally alternative way to think about cancer, its treatment and life post-diagnosis. I read the site because I find it totally inspirational from a consumption perspective (kale over KitKats) but it's just a great resource. Thinking about both of you, again.
I was sad to read this….
My positive thoughts are with them
We have a local weatherman that was diagnosed 13 years ago and has established a fund that does research at the new Yale Cancer Center (in Connecticut) I don't know how far away you are from Connecticut, but he's been treated at Yale for all these years, so it may be a place to start some research as to what they do. Good Luck, thoughts and prayers to Brandy & her man. a link about the weatherman & Yale: http://www.yalecancercenter.org/news/2009storie...
thanks for this.
Prayers Ascending…
You've got it Brandy. Prayers, positive thoughts, and many hugs coming your way.
all the love and hugs to brandy- i'll do what i can. prayers, thoughts and positive energy.
my best friend's father, who is a father to me, is fighting myeloma with a great team at VCU in Richmond. Contact them! http://www.massey.vcu.edu/treatment/?pid=1885
all the love and hugs to brandy- i'll do what i can. prayers, thoughts and positive energy.
man! i absolutely believe in the power of prayer/positive thoughts!! through the internet, you can do so many amazing things. i even know a story w/ a happy ending that i think had a LOT to do with the support of people from around the world. so, i will send my thoughts and wishes. i know it can help
man! i absolutely believe in the power of prayer/positive thoughts!! through the internet, you can do so many amazing things. i even know a story w/ a happy ending that i think had a LOT to do with the support of people from around the world. so, i will send my thoughts and wishes. i know it can help
I just found both of your blogs, but I hope you'll pass this message on to Brandy. Last Spring, a best friend of the family was rushed to the hospital – a mother of 3 girls who has always been icnredibly healthy. They told us all that she had cancer, and it was pancreatic cancer, but more tests needed to be run. The out pouring from the community of prayers, hopes, thoughts and love was amazing. By the time Friday hit, the doctors found something else – it wasn't pancreatic cancer, but had mimicked pancreatic cancer. It was lymphoma, and she is in complete remission. My family and friends 100% BELIEVE that she DID have pancreatic cancer. It is truly and 100% a miracle that she ended up with something else, and wouldn't have happened without the praying. I really believe that it was all the prayers and I really believe that it can happen. I will be be praying!!!!
Praying for Brandy's dude. Keep us posted. Wishing u the best of luck!
Just discovered your blog on 20SB. Love this post. It was very touching… I too believe in the power of positive thought and a group of people rallying behind a common cause. I don't know Brandy or her man, but I will still be thinking of them and wishing for the best!
Sending positive thoughts to Brandy. What a difficult thing to have to go through. I hope with all my heart that the diagnosis is NOT cancer. Hugs.
Praying for Brandy's dude. Keep us posted. Wishing u the best of luck!
Just discovered your blog on 20SB. Love this post. It was very touching… I too believe in the power of positive thought and a group of people rallying behind a common cause. I don't know Brandy or her man, but I will still be thinking of them and wishing for the best!
Sending positive thoughts to Brandy. What a difficult thing to have to go through. I hope with all my heart that the diagnosis is NOT cancer. Hugs.
All my good wishes and pray for you and your loved ones. I would also like to add that these good wishes and prays continue in your good times too…
All my good wishes and pray for you and your loved ones. I would also like to add that these good wishes and prays continue in your good times too…
{ 4 trackbacks }