Gratitude

[Mongoose]

Gratitude is an important part of one's yoga practice. So I'm starting a new thread for things we are truly grateful for in our lives.

Today officially marks the end to the worst year of my life. From now on, I'm officially taking it back.

A year ago today I was in a car accident. I ended up having surgery for it in March. In January, my cat was diagnosed with diabetes and he nearly died. In April, my partner of 8 years left. It's been a lot of crap on a lot of conveyor belts.

But I had this amazing, transformative, transcendant summer. What was once a weekly yoga practice quickly became a daily one. I made friends and transformed my body and mind. Things that did not serve me were left on my yoga mat, which quickly became a lasting symbol of my phoenix moment. I left behind so much baggage, both physically (30 lbs as of today) and figuratively.

The year started getting better over the summer as well. After literally years of searching, I was offered and accepted a sweet senior attorney position in Tallahassee at DBPR. The offer came 3 hours after the completion of my interview. The one downside is that the job was 4.5 hours away. This meant leaving behind dozens and dozens of friends (40 people came to my going away party!) and my entire support network.

But it wasn't my entire support network. Because there was all of you.

Mattmatt, my frequent beloved confidante and virtual personal assistant. Sweet Matty, David T, Alan, Vomps, and the rest of the shred fb chat for constantly listening to my stream of consciousness outpourings.

Gratitude to everyone that sent me messages seeing how I was doing throughout the year. And a lot of you probably didn't know what I was going through (and maybe now you might be thinking back to games where I was super overly defensive or prickly and it might make sense, ha), but you still showed me love and light. You don't know how much I enjoyed that kind word on what was probably to you a normal Thursday afternoon.

And of course I had Logan was my rock all year. He got the brunt of it and he dealt with it aplomb and grace. Thanks for all those times you had to stay up late to make sure I was okay or take pictures of your food to distract me or answer an endless litany of banal questions. We'll always have Murder Park <3

I want to thank everyone that came to visit me this year (Alex/Annie/Lo/Rob/Tasha), and everyone that will come and visit me in the coming year (David et al). If you want to see me, you know where I'm at!

Thank you. Feeling strong.

Much Love,
Alison/Mongoose

The Life You Save May Be Your Own

[birdwithteeth11]

I can't speak for anyone else, but I'm glad that you were able to find some healthy outlets for all the crap you've been through in the last year (none of which was your fault either). I say it's time to raise our glasses, say piss off to the last year, and look forward to a year that will be full of happiness and success for you.

Also, me visiting next year definitely means a better year. :P

[Mongoose]

I can't speak for anyone else, but I'm glad that you were able to find some healthy outlets for all the crap you've been through in the last year (none of which was your fault either). I say it's time to raise our glasses, say piss off to the last year, and look forward to a year that will be full of happiness and success for you.

Also, me visiting next year definitely means a better year. :P

Thanks, puddin! Many drinks will be had.

[A Person]

^^ture, I think the it says a lot that you've come so far this past year despite all the carp you've had to deal with.

and I am glad that I could help in some way, it is the least I can do

[S~V~S]

Thats awesome, and inspirational. It isn't always easy to pick yourself back up, and it takes a lot of strength.

[thellama73]

You truly did have a terrible year, and I am really happy that you got a good job and a change of scenery so you can start to shake it off (as TSwift would say) even though you can't get to DC from there because there are no airplanes.

You've been a great friend for ten years, so I'm happy I was able to give a little back and help you out when you need it.

It's going to be a good 2015, wait and see.

[Mongoose]

Awww, thanks, guys! <3<3

[bea]

Alison - what a wonderful story and thread idea! I'm so happy that so may bad things happening to you ended with such a positive outcome. Not everyone has the same happy ending. Good for you for seeking the positives in a year when so many negative things happened to you.

Some people here know, but lots don't, that I had a phoenix moment myself. Just before I moved out to the desert, the apartment next to mine caught fire. I was at work at the time and they had to bust through my apartment to contain the fire. I lost almost everything I owned, including Neffie and Apollo, my two kittes. They went running from the fire, but I was never able to track them down as I wasn't there when it happened.

I had been planning to move out west to be with BDH, but that experience conciderably stepped up the speed in which all that was going to happen by several months. (When God *literally* strikes a fire under your ass about priorities, one tends to listen.) About a week or so after the fire, my Gram passed. She was my rock. So many bad things happened in that month. But so many good things happened to.

The infinately wonderful as well as forcefully persuasive SVS set up an online fund to help me recoup my losses. Many people from the now dead LP community and ever thriving HV commuinty donated to said fund. 10 buck here, 20 bucks there, sometimes more. In the end it helped to pay the down payment on the appartment we still live in as well as pay for the bed we still sleep in many years later.

And as wonderful as my online family was during my time of stress, my community off the internet was amazing as well. Another fund set up by the members I worked for raised enough money to help pay for the cost of driving out here, a car to get out here with and a little extra to cushion things some while I job hunted. People I had professional relationships (IE the funeral director and florist as well as my work) helped me to find the most cost effective ways to honor my Gram's memory and still save as many pennies as I could.

What I took away from the experience was not how aweful life is, but how wonderful it is. I took away how loving and kind humans can be. It was one of the most amazing things I'd ever experiened and I never would have had the experience if some tragic crap hadn't happened to me.

[Mongoose]

Aww bea, what a tragic and transcendent story! I'm so sorry you had to go through all of that though. Thank you for sharing. I'm glad it had a happy ending!!

It's definitely not easy -- I'm a pretty private person, you won't see any of that on facebook, so I appreciate all the nice sentiments you have all expressed today.

[bea]

If you ever need someone to talk to let me know. I love helping people even when all I can do is listen. If you want, I'll pm you my cellie number.

[Mongoose]

If you ever need someone to talk to let me know. I love helping people even when all I can do is listen. If you want, I'll pm you my cellie number.

Oooh yes, thanks! I'd want that anyway tbh

[Epignosis]

"She carries me through days of apathy. She washes over me. She saved my life, in a manner of speaking, when she gave me back the power to believe."

I'm thankful for Eloh.

[A Person]

I am thankful for Alison for being a confidante's confidante and also for the rest of my shred friends <3

[Mongoose]

I am thankful for Alison for being a confidante's confidante and also for the rest of my shred friends <3

Awwww, Matty!

<3 Shred

[Tangrowth]

This is a truly awesome thread. Fantastic idea, Mongoose, and I think your example is awesome and definitely inspiring.

I thank every single one of my friends here, from RL, or whatever facet of my life, and also my immediate family and wonderful fiance, Annie. I feel incredibly fortunate to have had a support team throughout my entire life, thanks to my parents, that has only grown stronger over time with the additions of others. I like to believe I've contributed to my own success greatly, but conversely I feel I really don't know where I would be right now if it weren't for the support and advice of others who have helped guide me back up whenever I've fallen down, and I'm really infinitely grateful for it. Those of you who make up this community have all helped me in your own way, even if it is being a member of the site and we don't even converse that often, or ever, because forming this site, playing and hosting these games, and interacting with all of you has been and continues to be a really significant aspect of my life, and something I really truly enjoy more than almost anything else.

[Spacedaisy]

I want to express my sincere and deep gratitude to Bea. She was there for me this year in a way many people weren't. Even though it was very hard on her. SVS, she definitely paid it forward.

[S~V~S]

<3

[bea]

<3 Daisy - I did nothing you wouldn't do for me. Love you to bits.

[S~V~S]

My youngest brother, Jesse (I have an extended group of 6, of which I am oldest, he is youngest, 2 brothers, 3 stepsibs) is undergoing surgery for a brain tumor today. I need good thoughts. Not sure why I put this here, in this thread, but it seemed fitting.

The surgery is at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, with one of the top doctors in the US, and everything is gonna be fine. But it's still scary.

Beth Hart is his favorite singer, and this is the song I have in mind today, although the one I posted for him on Facebook (he is going to be awake for the surgery, that is how they do brain surgery. He can't bring his phone into surgery, but he has it in the prep room until he goes in at 7:30) is less raw, this is the one I am thinking of:

[S~V~S]

P.S. And my sister Kirsten is having a scheduled c-section today. So when jesse was scheduled for today as well (his was originally supposed to be the ninth), there was no way she could change hers. This was the earliest it could be scheduled, and all the arrangements were made (out of state mother in law, in home caretaker for Kirs autistic daughters, husband off work, etc.).

So it is a quite a day for my family. Good Thoughts & Prayers (if you lean that way) appreciated

[Roxy]

xxoo <3

Sending good vibes and sun-shiney thoughts your way SVS!

[thellama73]

Best of luck to you and yours, SVS! I'm thinking of you.

[fingersplints]

SVS <333333

[bea]

My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family SVS.

[S~V~S]

Thanks Guys

Jesse is out of surgery and resting well, he was awake for the whole thing (that's how they do brain surgery) and was talking about all of the family dogs, apparently, as well as his ex boyfriend who went straight~ the doctors said he was "fun to operate on" lolol. They got most of the tumor, more than they had hoped based on positioning, and he looks normal (he was petrified of getting droop issues, which was a real possibility) and talks and reacts normally and appropriately, also very real concerns which could have realistically been side effects of this surgery. So so far so good, now on to chemo etc. and recovery.

Kirsten, on the other hand, is still in labor (I was wrong before, she had a scheduled inducement, not a c-section) and demanding Words with Friends moves, lol. Gonna be a long night!

[Epignosis]

Thanks Guys

Jesse is out of surgery and resting well, he was awake for the whole thing (that's how they do brain surgery) and was talking about all of the family dogs, apparently, as well as his ex boyfriend who went straight~ the doctors said he was "fun to operate on" lolol. They got most of the tumor, more than they had hoped based on positioning, and he looks normal (he was petrified of getting droop issues, which was a real possibility) and talks and reacts normally and appropriately, also very real concerns which could have realistically been side effects of this surgery. So so far so good, now on to chemo etc. and recovery.

Kirsten, on the other hand, is still in labor (I was wrong before, she had a scheduled inducement, not a c-section) and demanding Words with Friends moves, lol. Gonna be a long night!

Excellent news on both fronts.

[S~V~S]

Jack Kellan Ferguson showed up at about 9:30 last night, not 100% sure of the time. Happy, healthy and his parents are already enraptured~ as it should be. All is well 24 hours after my whole family was a nervous wreck.

[thellama73]

Jack Kellan Ferguson showed up at about 9:30 last night, not 100% sure of the time. Happy, healthy and his parents are already enraptured~ as it should be. All is well 24 hours after my whole family was a nervous wreck.

Yay! I'm so happy everything went well. Good going, Sherry. <3

[Roxy]

Awww such a happy end to an anxious day! <3
So glad everything went well!

[bea]

So glad to hear your brother is doing well!!

And that new nephew is a. dor. a. ble!!!!!!!

[timmer]

Wonderful news

[Mongoose]

Wow, great newS! thanks for the update!

[Tangrowth]

So this is my 10,000th post on The Syndicate.

What a ride it's been.

I am very happy with the progress this site has made since my first post. I'm so glad to see all of you that have made this site your home for mafia. I'm also very glad to see the influx of new people here as well and hope all of you really enjoy your time here. I'm very excited to see what the future brings for our community and I'm thankful for the fantastic group of players and hosts that has flourished over the past couple of years. I definitely look forward to more great memories arguing with and deceiving all of you. :P

Seriously though, it's been a great couple of years, and it's funny how we've all bonded so much over a game built around deception. I've made many friends here and my interactions with you folks have meant a lot to me over what has been a really crazy but mostly awesome period of my life, with many changes. Over the last few years, I started and quit multiple jobs, I got my Master's degree, I passed the CPA exam, I moved away from my friends and family, I lived on my own for the first time, I started my accounting PhD, and most importantly, I got engaged to the love of my life, all the while playing mafia with all of you.

It was through this game that I met an absolutely wonderful, amazing, and loving woman over 3 years ago. You all know her by the name of Spacedaisy. This site most likely wouldn't even be here now if it wasn't for her supporting me and I am very thankful for that. Of course, I also had the help and support from many of you not only those on my administration team (who all rock and work very hard to make this site great) but those who have hosted and played any number of games here. This site is all about you, the members, because without you, there would be no mafia experience at The Syndicate.

With that said, it was the love and support from Spacedaisy that really pushed me to create this site and pursue my vision. Even though I knew I wanted it, at times it was stressful and I always wondered whether all of the work would be in vain. She helped to keep me going and keep me focused on something I really wanted to do, and thanks to that we are all here today, enjoying the outcome of a successful website. I know we aren't nearly the size of mafiascum or any other number of other internet communities. I know that we all have our moments where we get mad at each other and get heated in games. But overall I think we have achieved a really great atmosphere here filled with all kinds of truly awesome people.

I know 10,000 is just another number, but nonetheless I wanted to make this post special, as it represents a milestone in my existence on this site. Consequently, I decided I wanted to dedicate it to the one person who has always been there for me, in my corner, rooting me on, through all of the good and bad, and all of the crazy changes in my life since this site's inception. Thank you, Annie. So very much. I love you!

And here's to another 10,000 posts spending time mafiaing with all of you amazing people.

[Roxy]

Yay 10k!

<3 to dasock

[Spacedaisy]

since I don't have a luff smiley.

[Marmot]

Congrats! Numbers can have sentimental value, and there is nothing wrong with that. Especially to me, since that is what I study.

You guys are all awesome. Thanks for being awesome.

[Golden]

I'm just grateful I had a mafia site to come 'back' to.

[Mongoose]

That is so lovely, Socky.

I have so much gratitude this weekend for major things, but I will tell you instead how much I enjoyed the quesadilla special at Tijuana Flats.

I've been journaling and notating how many things I am grateful for versus how many things are bothering me or things I am perceiving as obstacles. I've noticed that since I started (Feb 4th) the lists have flipped on their heads and I have way more positive things going on than negative. Once you start chronicling your mindfulness and gratitude, crazy things might happen!

[Elohcin]

How am I just now seeing this thread? I really enjoyed reading everyone's posts.

It is wonderful to have an online community of people who really care for one another. I very much enjoy playing Mafia with you all and I enjoy chatting with you even more. It has been awesome to meet some of you all in person as well and I look forward to meeting more of you this summer.

I am thankful for my husband, Epi. We've been through so much together in the past 15.5 years. Through all our struggles, he is still my best friend and the love of my life. He continues to endure his job in order to help support our family financially even though he deserves so much better. And, just about every evening, he cooks amazing meals for me. I'm thankful he supports the decision for me to stay home with our three children and homeschool them, even though it means I can only work part-time in my business. Overall, I am thankful to have a husband with the same convictions as I have even if his taste in music is horrible I am thankful for three healthy children with awesome, unique personalities and a place to call home.

[Spacedaisy]

I am grateful for you and Rob. You guys are an important part of this community and I'm glad to get to know you both!

[Bass_the_Clever]

Not long ago I celebrated 4 in recovery from drugs. I just want to let everyone know how thankful I am to them for being super cool and welcoming. I really enjoy this site and the people.

[Bass_the_Clever]

Not long ago I celebrated 4 in recovery from drugs. I just want to let everyone know how thankful I am to them for being super cool and welcoming. I really enjoy this site and the people.

4 years.

[Epignosis]

I'm glad you are a part of this site and I am thankful for your fourth anniversary.

"All of us do time in the gutter..."

[Spacedaisy]

Awesome Bass! We are so glad you you are here, your friendship means a lot to us.

[fingersplints]

Not long ago I celebrated 4 in recovery from drugs. I just want to let everyone know how thankful I am to them for being super cool and welcoming. I really enjoy this site and the people.

4 years.

Congratulations! I don't usually openly talk about my own issues with substance abuse because it's no one's business, but without some of the members of this community I literally wouldn't be alive today. They provided me the help and support I needed to tackle that issue and a couple other things. They all know who they are.

Keep it up Bass! We are all glad you quit and are around with all of us today.

[Marmot]

Not long ago I celebrated 4 in recovery from drugs. I just want to let everyone know how thankful I am to them for being super cool and welcoming. I really enjoy this site and the people.

4 years.

Congratulations Bass! I'm definitely happy you're here playing with us, regardless of how often you try and get me lynched.

[Tangrowth]

Bass, I am so glad to hear that. Your friendship has meant much to me too. I'm really incredibly glad that the community here has been such an important part of your life, as it has been in mine. We really love having you here, buddy.

[Elohcin]

That's awesome Bass! Congratulations.

[Spacedaisy]

I don't think it would surprise anyone to hear me say this has been the best week of my life thus far. The wedding was not without its hiccups, but it was so wonderful because in the end I was married to the love of my life! That said, there are so many people we want to express gratitude to. First of all, the bridal party included members like Boomslang, Russtifinko, birdwithteeth, Devin the Omniscient, Jigsaw, Captain Bunnykiller and leamiteo. We love you guys and are so grateful to you all for playing such a meaningful part in our big day! Secondly, Elohcin and Epignosis, I don't think people realize what a huge part you two played in our wedding. I don't think the two of us even realized it until the wedding reception, lol. We started out our engagement by planning surprises for each other so it is so very fitting that we did the same for our wedding, again without any clue what the other was doing. You guys were at the heart of it. I know how much time, work, effort and love you two poured into making or wedding something really special for us with the music you wrote and performed at the wedding ceremony, the cakes you created, and the amazing album you did for my wedding gift from Alex. It is truly something special. Thank you both so much! Finally, to all the syndicate family members who traveled to come to this shindig, we are really honored that you invested your time, travel and money to celebrate with us. Sorry we didn't have booze at the wedding, but that's why we wanted to have a get together the night before with you guys to give you some booze, lol. I'm sorry that I didn't get more time with you all, stupid wedding projects kept me busy the night before, but I can't say how much we enjoyed hitting the bar with you guys after the reception! You all are awesome and we can't wait to get together again!

This message is posted under my account but it is from both MP and myself. We love you all!

[Mongoose]

It was a great time and the most beautiful wedding I've ever been to -- very fitting for two very beautiful people!

And yeah, that bar was the rocccccks.