Meet James Garfield:
Long story short: The Bloggess, who is kinda crazy and super awesome (crawsome!) is hosting her Seventh (7th!!!!!!!) Annual James Garfield Miracle, and as a result, hundreds of families who need a little Christmas Miracle are receiving gifts for their chillens.
Longer story even shorter: When I was 12 years old, my entire world changed. My mother escaped an abusive marriage with her life and with her children, and in the years following we were, quite literally, dirt-floor poor. Prior to her divorce, our family had always played Santa to other families in our community who needed help making ends meet at Christmas time. In a karmic bitch twist, nobody reciprocated when my mom was working three jobs just to keep the lights on and we were spending the winter without adequate food, clothing, water, or heat. Let alone money for Christmas gifts.
The Point: I learned a lot from that time in my life. About a lot of things, including human frailty. I embrace those lessons.
But I will also do whatever I can, whenever I can, to prevent other kids from having to learn those lessons.
So tonight I have been James Garfielding, because I know that even a little bit goes a long way and I believe that as a community, we have the ability to make everyone’s season a little brighter.
There are community efforts happening on every level right now during the holiday season. If you are taking part in a Christmas miracle on your local level, I applaud you. And if you are looking for a way to take part in something but haven’t quite figured out what or how yet, or if you really just want to do something nice for somebody else this Christmas but are not able/interested in leaving your house to do so: Go. Do this.
And if you have kids and are in need: Go. Do this.
THAT IS ALL!
Credit where Credit is due, etc: James Garfield messages screen-shotted from The Bloggess’ James Garfield post. All taxidermy ethically obtained. All rights reserved. Blah, blah, ad infinitum.