Author: elsims

Dear Sherry,

Thank you so much for reaching out and checking on me. I was going to respond in a text, but I realized that it would have been like writing a letter. So, I am writing you a letter. A while back in one of your text messages, you said I hope life is treating you fairly. I love that statement. It made me think, is my life fair? I cannot say that it is or isn’t. I am surrounded by people who are going through things and I realize that it is just life. Is it fair? Probably not, but it is equal.

I am not in a great space. Honestly, I am not happy. Yet, occasionally I can still find moments, even pockets of happiness. I have found a spot here that I can go to sit on the water and smoke a cigar when I need to decompress. I do need to find a good bug spray though. They ate me up when I was there last time. I really love the company I work for and my coworkers. And they like me. They see value in me even on days that I struggle to see it myself. They are very intelligent women who are funny as hell. And they cuss like I do, so I can be myself. After tax season, I will start my bookkeeper training. Another valuable skill added! Also, it is cool being close to my mom. Well, I live with her so I guess I don’t have a choice 😂.

So why am I not happy? I don’t see a space for me here. I don’t fit in. There is an unconceivable amount of traffic for such a small town. I find myself being the worst version of me, which is never good. I can’t get away from the busyness, the stop and go. Nothing feels me with a true sense of peace. I miss the familiar. I miss my city and the beauty I have always been able to find there. My barbershop family, my happy hour spots and of course my friends and family. Yet, I know I needed to leave Toledo. I just don’t think this is the place I need to be.

Healthwise, 🤪. I am still walking and that is something I am grateful for. I mean it has went downhill severely in the little bit of time I have been here. I am not adjusting well to the changes in my health either. Or when I feel like, “Okay, this is new, but I got this.” Something else happens and I don’t have it. I don’t fucking have it at all! I am constantly grieving because before I have a chance to adjust to the new change, another one happens. This MS shit is for no one, not even the birds 😆. I have to get to the other side of this grief. I have to get to acceptance. So pray for me on that. I need it. I need to stop mourning who I used to be and love and accept this new version of me, even if that version of me is different today than it was yesterday.

Okay, enough whining and complaining. I did do the local MS Walk in Savannah, GA. They don’t have an MS walk in Bluffton or Hilton Head. My friend Shayla came from Atlanta to do the walk with me. A few other friends wanted to come, but the tickets were so high. I am glad they didn’t come because the walk was a little different than the one in Toledo. The one good thing that came from the walk is I was able to give my blankets away to 2 people living with MS. And really that is the only reason I wanted to attend the walk. Here are the blankets.

Look at the little heart I attached. So pretty 😍

Shayla’s mom is also living with MS and she is one of the people I made a blanket for in 2022. Shayla took it back to her mom when she left. This was the first blanket I did with this design. I am figuring I will do more this way, unless they come out with more variegated options for the color around the ribbon. It is hard to find options that match with lime green or bright ass orange. Lol.

This blanket was made in 2022 as well for a man living with MS. I plan on continuing to make one for a man and one for a woman. But it is harder to find men living with MS than women. God will just have to keep helping me with this.

I just know how defeating MS can be at times and I hope that when these individuals see their blankets they know someone cares and is rooting for them.

I hope you are staying well and whole. Next time I am that way we can go to lunch or meet at Elizabeth Park. Sitting in some lawn chairs, looking out at the water like last time. My favorite Michigan park and my favorite Michigan person. Thank you so much for not  giving up on me, even when I am being a turd and unresponsive. I truly appreciate your friendship, your love and your prayers. Love you Sherry 🧡💚

P.S. Now that the blankets are done, I have no excuse not to write. I am coming back to EbonyonEverything and Vivyd.

I don’t even know where to beginning. Last year was different. Especially after 2020 and 2021, which I thought were pretty good years even though we were in a pandemic. I experienced a lot of lows in 2022 and I didn’t bounce back like I thought I would. My biggest low happened at the end of the year. I landed face first on the ground when the forces of nature and MS conspired against me.

If you know me, you know I am so vain. I don’t even like a pimple on my face. So to say this was rough is an understatement. You may not believe me, but it looked worse in person. By the grace of God, I am only mildly changed.

So I didn’t have any year end reflections or thoughts on how I wanted my 2023 to start. I just wanted to look and feel normal. Every day I just want to get closer to who I was before. Physically and mentally.

Am I happy? No. Am I okay? Yes. Am I dwelling in the what ifs and why me? Probably. Am I going to pull through it? Absolutely! As an introvert, I struggle with letting people in. I am not trying to be super independent or not share the shady parts of my life. I just don’t know how to open that door. I also don’t want to be a burden. And yes, somewhere deep in me I know that I am not, but at times it still feels as if I am.

Every year, my goal is to be more vulnerable. To open myself up and show people I do have a heart. I promise you I do! I am not exactly sure if I’ve even budge an inch in the vulnerability department 🤦🏾‍♀️. Either way, a more vulnerable and open Ebony is once again my goal. I want to embrace, love and accept all sides of myself. Even the ones I see as weaknesses. I want to request assistance when it is needed and accept graciously when it is offered.

“One of the greatest acts of strength is extending oneself permission to be weak.” – Airicia Colley

I am slowly, but surely pulling myself back together. I will find the joy and peace in writing again. I will continue to work at being well and whole. And I hope you will do the same. Much Love 🧡 💚

P.S. I apologize to my subscribers who may have received the spam comments from my blog. I didn’t realize that you were also receiving the comments. There is still so much I don’t know about the background workings of my blog. I believe I have fixed the problem so you should not be sexually harassed any longer. Once again, my deepest apologies.

 

I leave out just as I do every morning, windows down. Passenger window completed down, driver’s side crack to allow a little breeze, but not enough to mess up my hair. Jamming to the Gospel According to PJ. Something plops into my car. So weird. It lands on this plastic bag with a couple of shirts inside it. Of course, I’m like what the hell was that. It moved! It fucking moved! It is a damn frog 🐸. Maybe 2 inches big. Hell, I don’t know. All I know at this point is there is a damn frog in my car. I immediately think of this picture,

I called my friend, all the while, glancing over occasionally to make sure he isn’t making his way towards me. I’m hoping he went into the bag and I can get him out easily. But animals and I don’t have a good history. I didn’t tell y’all about the bird who flew in the house and spent the night in my room. Well actually, it died in my room 🤦🏾‍♀️. Anyhoo, I started screaming in her ear as soon as she answered the phone. She recommended I pull over and get him out, but I just wanted to get to work. When I finally decided to pull over in a gas station, just in case I passed out someone would see and call 911, I realized I passed the last one.

Now, I am crossing the bridge to Hilton Head with this damn frog in the car. Thank God, he was grateful for the ride to the island and didn’t try to kill us both. I normally park in the further spot where no one or nothing can get out of the passenger seat. Not today! He had to get the hell out of my car. I had my strategy together. I’m going to lift the plastic bag out of the car with my walking stick. This way if he jumps out, it won’t be on me. Okay, I’m ready. Side note: I left the car running and I don’t know why😆.

I get out, leaving the driver side door open. Grab my walking stick and slowly lift the bag out of the car. I lay it down on the ground. Nothing yet. I lightly tap the bag hoping he will jump his little ass out. Still nothing. I grab the bottom of the bag and dump the shirts out. Yep, no frog. I guess it was too much to hope this would be easy. I take the walking stick and hit around under the passenger seat, sure enough he jumps into the back seat. Now, I am screaming, “Get your little ass out of my car!” I grab the back door and yank it open, hit the seat, he jumps to the other side. I run to the other side, well something like that 😂, and open the other back door. Now, all four doors are open. You think he would take this opportunity to exit the vehicle. I got him on the island safely. I’m assuming that is what his goal was for plopping into my car. Time to go little buddy.

What does he do? He jumps into the back fucking window. Seriously! Mind you, I’m screaming and fussing at him the whole time. This gentleman who works at National Branding Solutions, another business in the plaza, looks over at me amusingly. I say with the whiniest tone I have probably used since I was a kid, “There is a frog in my car.” There are still good men in the world 😆. He sits his belongings on the ground and saunter on over. I hit the back window a couple of times, the frog jumps into the spotlight, he scoops him up and deposits him on to the ground. Whew 😅.

I feel like this type of shit only happens to me. What are the chances of a frog hanging out on your roof, jumping into your car and not having the good sense to get out when the opportunity is offered? High, where I am concerned. You have no idea. Which is why I decide to title this “Only Me, Episode 1”. Feel free to laugh until you cry at these stories. I do after it’s over.

It has been so long since I’ve said this. Be well and whole. Much Love 🧡 💚