Quit Your Bitching

No seriously.  Just quit your bitching right now.  Whatever you're whining and complaining about right now isn't that bad.  Unless you're complaining about someone's life in mortal danger, you don't have it nearly as bad as someone else this holiday season. 

Overall, this has been an incredibly hard year for me and Stoofy.  Probably the hardest year of our lives.  And if it weren't for Elly, we both agree this year could make it to the top of the list of worst years ever.  No joke.  Yet, we've got our health.  We haven't gone completely bankrupt.  We've managed to get through our hard times and things seem to finally be picking up and tides have turned.

Abby's been having a rough go of things this week as well.  There's nothing like waking up one morning and not being sure if the sky is really blue, if up is actually up and if there's anything in this world you can actually trust and believe in.

I've got another friend whose father was nearly blind, had surgery for his eye and ended up coming through great.  That is, until he got in a very serious car crash this last week.  He's got some very serious injuries and on top of that, his eye surgery from earlier this year could be seriously affected. 

But this weekend has been one of the hardest for one of Stoofy's friends.  God bless my husband.  He did something heroic that not everyone can say they've done.  He actually saved a friend's life.  His friend has been having a rough go of it for YEARS. 

He's an Army vet with very severe PTSD.  He's had some seriously bad breaks.  His ex-wife left him with 4 kids (not all of which are his) as she went on a multi-state crime spree and ended up in federal prison.  His mom, who he cares for,  has had cancer.  And he's having an incredibly hard time keeping a job.  So of course that means he's not making ends meet. 

His story will make you cry.  It makes me cry every time I think about it.  And Friday night he finally had enough.  He began saying his goodbyes to the world.  And that included my husband.  But Stoofy recognized the signs and immediately went to his house.  Thank God he did.  Because without Stoofy, his friend would have ended his life.  His reasoning is that his kids would at least get more from social security than what he could provide for them.  He couldn't even afford to send them to a Christmas party for $3 each this year. 

He finally had enough and was ready to check out.  Without Stoofy, he would have.  But my husband got there with enough time to take the gun away from him.  And he and I have been working feverishly the last couple of days to get him help. 

Because there is nothing worse in this world than to know one of our true American heroes, who has sacrificed his life for our country, can't provide for his young children.  That we as Americans have let him slip through the cracks.  Our government, and the system Congress keeps fucking up daily, has failed him greatly.

So for God's sake, before you start complaining that you don't have enough time to finish that last batch of cookies or that you ran out of bows for your kid's presents, just shut the hell up.  Because you have nothing to complain about.