You make up my heart.

I had another post all ready to go up today but something happened over the weekend that I'm still trying to put into words.  I was plagerized.  Flat out, plain and simple, someone took my words and used them as their own.

One of the images/pictures I made on Facebook was duplicated, without my permission, and was passed off as someone else's work.  Let me be clear--this image was not shared as is standard on Facebook.  This was someone who duplicated something I had already done and put her name on it.  

I won't go into all the details here.  I can't.  I won't.  I guess I'm not quite ready to go there and, for as much as I loathe to admit it, I'm a grown up.  I'm not going to go to a base level and start slinging mud.  I will not bring myself, this blog or anyone else down to that level.  I believe in a certain amount of respect and while others can, and do, play in the mud, I will not.

And to be honest, this will probably be one of the most disjointed posts I've ever written.  I can't seem to get what I want to say out in a coherent pattern or order.  Words fail me for many different reasons.

The thing is, those little sayings I make on Facebook are important to me.  It's how I feel.  Sure, they're sappy and they totally go against my snarky side but at the core, it's how I feel about my son, my family, my life and my friends.  I love them all deeply.

And to have someone take that, to claim it as their own, is wrong.  It's flat out wrong.

(I would love to name each and every one of you who helped but I fear we will all be blocked.  Who will keep an eye on things then?  That would just not do, not do at all.)

So those of you who saw what was going on and decided to do something, anything, I am in awe of you.  There are so many people who did what I could not do alone.  You stood up for me, stood up for what was right, and together we were able to do what I simply could not have done on my own.

I am humbled, awed and left without words.

You see, I have always grown up telling myself, "You have to do this on your own.  No one else will do it for you."  I've had that wedged into my brain since as long as I can remember, so asking for help is foreign to me.  I don't know how to do it.  I was scared to death to reach out to you.  And when you all did help me?  I was brought to my knees. 

Those of you who helped me, you know who you are.  I know you do.  Please know that you have a special place in my heart.  You are the friends I've never met but you mean more to me than you will ever know.

While one person may have destroyed my faith in humanity, you have resotred it beyond measure.  And you taught me something else, something about me.  Something that I've been preaching but too busy to hear my own words.

I'm not alone in any of this.  I have the support, friendship and love of this community that I never knew I had.  Turns out, you were always right there next to me, it just took someone stealing my words to make me see what was right in front of me all along.

And while someone may have taken something from me, you have given me my heart.  You've filled it up, handed it back and made me see there is hope.

Thank you.  Thank you for doing something that made me see what was right in front of me all along.  You.

My family. My friends.  My community.




Note: I know there are others who can put into words what I did not and do a much better job of it.  I do not own the patent on this and I welcome you writing your own posts on this matter.  Sometimes distance give clarity and right now I don't have that distance.  


Please also know while I have been blocked from this particular Facebook page, that page owner still has access to mine and thus, my blog posts.  I expect respect in the comments and will not tolerate rude or otherwise defamatory remarks.