Gratitude

When I was starting to clean out my office the other day, I found an envelope that I had saved from VyoletShop LLC. They do custom Vinyl Decals. I wanted to make sure to save that envelope so I could thank them. When I first started my website and blogs, I was asking on Facebook and I think on my blog if anyone could do a decal for my car. Figured there are so many women and stay at home Mom’s with a cricket who would want to help. I was willing to pay. I said eventually I will get more stuff like shirts and hats, etc. Nobody offered to help. But one day when I checked the mail I got a small padded envelope and I thought I bet that is a sticker. Not sure how I assumed it was a sticker. Well it was! It was a small decal for my car in teal it said Stefanie’s Safe Space, Ending the Stigma of Mental Illness! I was so excited and put it on my car right away. It currently is on my jeep Cherokee that I no longer have. Well, I am sure they scraped it off. But thank you so much to VyoletShop! That was so amazing! I now started using a local shop in Tucson to create my bad ass owl logo and made a shirt for me. That reminds me I need to call and put in a shirt order today, because a few friends and family are paying me for shirts to go to the NAMI walk with me or even if they don’t go, they still want a shirt! The local company I am using is Aladdin Graphics and Christy, one of the owners, is so great. Okay I am going to stop for a minute to go call her. I have at least one more story of gratitude to share. Thanks! The other story I have is from years ago when my family wasn’t supporting me the way I needed and I felt like I needed to get off the family phone plan. I was crying my eyes parked in my Jeep Cherokee in the bank parking lot. I already went to T Mobile I think it was and they said it would be $40.00 to switch over to them and have my own plan. Think I was keeping the same number at the time or maybe I switched it. I can’t remember. There was a military man in his uniform coining back to his red camero I believe it was. I rolled down my passenger window and asked him for help. It was the day after a military holiday. I told him my Gramps and Great Gramps were navy and they are guiding me to you to ask for help. I told him I was in a bad relationship with my family and needed a phone. I said it is $40.00. I asked if he could help. Without hesitation he went to the ATM and brought back $40.00 to me. I was so grateful. I remember there was a woman in the passenger seat and he had a Hawaiian flower pink tattoo on his arm which was a sign to me, because as I mentioned before my Great Grandpa served in Hawaii right before Pearl Harbor happened. There was also a guy who filled up my gas tank for me. I had no money. I had a house so was not homeless, but knew what it was like to panhandle. I asked a woman if she had any money and she gave me $1.00. I think that is a time I drove to San Diego and a couple good friends Venmo’d me some money for food and drinks. I did not stay in a hotel. I was sleeping in my car and some cops saw me and took me to the hospital. I told them I needed the mental hospital but I stayed in the ER for a night and the next day a good friend begged my Mom to help me get home so my Moom Zelled me $100 for gas and food to get home. I think that may be the time I did not get a new phone, because my Brother turned my phone off on my way home from San Diego cause I was saying he raped me on Facebook, which is not true but that was my trauma brain at the time.