MOG #3 : To you and your kin,

Tonight's MOG comes from a fiery young woman I'm grateful to call my room-mate. Newly acquainted last year, I could see this girl was a gem- kind, funny, caring and genuinely sparkly in her own way. Her sense of self worth is admirable, her passion for moving forward undeniable, this is the type of person that makes herself better, not bitter. She's the kind of girl who can admit she's wrong but then prove she's more right than you in the same breath. A real force to be reckoned with and a true blessing in my life. Thanks for your contribution, Brianne! 

It’s been a little over a month since my grandmother passed away after a long battle with ALS. Christmas this year just wasn’t the same without her. At one point my grandfather, one of the strongest men I know, broke down and cried and asked for a moment of silence in her memory. I have never seen him cry in my life, not even when my father died. He had been married to my grandma for 51 years, never done anything without her there by his side. It was a truly painful moment to see him like that and to know all the pain he felt, how lost he must be.

Immediately after our moment of silence, which was mostly full of tears, the five grandkids and our parents opened our cards from Papa. Usually we get $100 from our grandparents every year, but this year we got something a little more surprising. I opened my card, feeling bad that my grandfather was giving all of us any money at all after the loss he’d just suffered, only to find a big, generous cheque inside – my grandmother’s life insurance money, divided between us all. My hand flew to my mouth and the tears streamed silently down my cheeks as I sat there staring at that small piece of paper in disbelief. After a moment I jumped up and was the first to give my Papa a great big hug and tell him how much I love him. In the spirit of Christmas, there was nothing more amazing than that moment, sitting with my family sharing silent, bitter-sweet tears.

The silence, our hug, that moment when I opened the card… Those are the little things you find yourself unwrapping in life, no matter what season, and make it all worth living for.

MOG #2: Babysitting band aids

Our first contributor!! Her name is Andrea and I’ve known her since high school and we go to the same University. Over the past four years we've  shared lunch dates, facebook messages and random run ins between classes. She was one of the first people I messaged about this project and true to form, when I asked if she would contribute she responded with the following piece immediately. That’s just classic Andrea; the most loyal girl you could ever meet. She’s also super sarcastic, and has a wicked sense of humour, but it’s the kindness in her heart that make this girl so awesome to be around. Thanks for being so supportive and writing so soon girl!


Over the past 6 months I have become very close with the family I have been nannying and babysitting for. In particular I have really connected with their toddler who we'll call R. He has a very mischievous and occasionally aggressive attitude about him, and like most toddlers has perfected the art of not listening.

A few weeks ago, I had him put a band aid on his baby sister and explained that it hurts when he pushes her and he has to be more thoughtful, so he must put a band aid on her and kiss her better because that is how you take care of people. Whether he was taking any of this in or not I had no idea but he didn't push her again for an hour so, naturally, I felt like super-nanny!

Then about a week ago my teenage brother broke his arm and wasn't really getting out of the house, so I dragged him along to babysit the tots with me (despite his alleged dislike of children). When we arrived at their house and noticed R eyeing my brother's not yet casted arm I got a little worried - he observed it from afar and then got up and ran to the kitchen on the hunt for something.

He came running back to my brother and said (spoken as a 2 year old) "you got a ouch? I give you my spideyman band aid and give your owie a kiss, cuz then it feel all better" So off he went putting a spiderman band aid and a big slobbery kiss on my near 6 foot tall giant of a brother.

To sum up, my MOG was that moment when I realised that he had listened to me all those weeks ago, and I had made a difference. Even if it appears someone isn't listening, keep trying, because you just might get through to them when you least expect it.

MOG #1: doorsteps and stairwells

First post! How exciting!

So this is how it all got started. My brother called me last night to check in and when I asked him how his evening plans were shaping up, he said something I think many of us do: "probably just going to hang out, wallow in my sorrows and call it a day". His circumstances are, of course, private, but it's heartbreaking to hear anyone say that's what they're doing tonight, especially when you share the same DNA with them. The funny thing is I was thinking of doing the same thing. I had gone out the night before and you know after a night of good times you can just feel sad? It's a common feeling- the depressants in the substances play tricks on our brains, that's why the most fun people at a party are the quietest at dinner time the next day. So when he turned down my offer to see a movie I knew I had to stop my sorry story in its tracks. I thought "that's enough. I can choose to sit here and be sad or I can go make someone else feel better."

It was as simple as that.

Off I went to Shoppers to buy care-package like things: health magazines, delicious smelling soap and some candy, then I stopped at Starbucks for his favourite drink. In the drive thru I told the barista what my plans were (I'm a big fan of conversations with strangers) and he goes "that's rad man, come back any time and I'll hook you and your brother up”. I'm a big fan of Starbucks in general, so expect a post featuring the establishment soon...

I'm waiting on his doorstep and wondering if this was a good idea. I rarely go to his house, let alone make the effort to be nice to the man- he is my older brother after all. And while we joke around and check in every so often, we don't share much. Once he sees what I've brought over, "just presents" I say, and he goes quiet.

 I get obnoxious and make fun of the things around his house-- harmless fun. After a few minutes I start to leave because his little thank you makes my eyes prickle. Heading downstairs I put on my shoes and then turn around to say bye. His face is still, then scrunches quickly and we're both in tears.

I hug him tightly on the stairs and he stands still, but I've never loved him more. When I get to the car I call my sister and we discuss. What a good kid he is.

Later that night I get a text from him, "thanks for tonight Mary, I love you."

No Kenny, thank you. Thank you for starting a movement in me, for getting me off my sorry butt, into your house and back on my feet. You're going to be a-okay one day and I can’t wait to see how well you do. Your gratitude makes my heart glow. 

Let's get acquainted

Thank you for visiting! Thank you for reading! Thank you for clicking through the link!

"Thank you" is a word you will see frequently here. You'll see it in action, through words, pictures, stories and thoughts and I hope it leads you to say some thank yous of your own. The whole idea of this project is to start recognizing the need to say thank you more; to understand through reflection the importance of gratitude. The idea came to me last night early evening, as inspired by MOG # 1: Doorsteps and stairways, which you can read about next. Simply put, this is just another way for me to amount to something. As a sort of New Years resolution, I want to post 365 moments of gratitude over the course of 2014. Notice the subtle phrasing here; there will not be a guarantee of daily posts but there will be days where dashboards will be flooded with thankfulness. The reason being that a daily deadline is just as daunting as it sounds, but an overarching goal allows for much more fluidity. This is more than a New Years resolution, more than just another blog and that's why I'm making it public, posting often and spreading the good word as much as I see fit. I hope you can help do the same. 

The rules for posting an MOG (moment of gratitude):
- 365 posts by January 1st, 2015; but quality over quantity, always
- accompanied with pictures, if possible 
- explanations must be at least one sentence long


And hey! This may be MY moments of gratitude, but I want some featuring acts! If you have a moment of thankful recognition then please, contact me and let's get a post up. I want this project to start off as my blog, written for both myself and for all of you and then turn into something bigger.. maybe a movement, maybe a book, maybe a chronological movie starting Lea Michele... mostly just to spark a change within people to see that the little moments we give thanks for amount to something worth living for.

I could not be more excited.

I leave you feeling grateful and buzzing already,
mary