They say nobody is coming to save you, but many people have saved me, even if they didn’t intend to. It can be as small as a smile from a stranger, a nudge from animal, words from a writer, the lyrics to a song, an observant friend. We are all saving each other every single day, in tiny seemingly insignificant ways.

(Iris Rose)

On this day six years ago, Shinedown released this banger of a song that I belt out loud to myself at least a couple times a week. As a matter of fact, this is it’ second appearance here in The Diary. How little did I know, though, that on the same date one year later, the trajectory of my life would be making a shift for the what the actual fuck:

Thursday, August 8th, 2019, things seemed to be looking up. It was his day off, but we’d decided to split for the day so that I could take Gia for school shopping and lunch while he went and ran some errands of his own. When he walked out the door, he seemed to be in genuinely good spirits, and as you can see from our credit card statement, we’d had a productive day. Me? Shopping. Having lunch with our daughter. Living life in the moment and excited for the double date later that night with our sweethearts. We were happy. We had a family. We had a home. We had a king waiting for us at that home who loved us more than words could say. He was our everything. HE WAS OUR ROCK!

(“Until The Day He Died“)

So, with that, this is me and my happy ‘lil vertebrae compadre screaming out to YOU:

Although at times it may seem that you’re riding out the most torrential storms of your life all alone, I am here to tell you that there is love and support around you everywhere. Whether you know me personally or have gotten to know me here, it’s no secret to anyone that I am not that “peopley” of a person. While I do have a healthy handful or two of truly close “got your clockers” in my atmosphere who I know I can always count on, for the most part, I tend to ride this highway solo. I’m definitely not a “friend collector”, and always prefer quality or quantity. That being said, I’ve been blessed to have amassed a tribe of true friends and “vertebrae” from literally all around the world … most of whom I’ve never met and probably never will. Even so, the invisible support system they provide me, whether or not I can “see, hear, or feel them”, sends the most beautiful and vibrant life energy through this cosmos like an electrical cord plugged straight into my spine! So, with that …

🎶

If you were ever in doubt, DON’T SELL YOURSELF SHORT … you might be bulletproof! Hard to move mountains when you’re paralyzed … but you gotta try! I’m calling out:

Get up!

Get up!

GET A MOVE ON!

Mmmkay? MMMKAY! Yes, it’s “August 8th“, and although the mental pictures in my head about this day five years ago could try to bring me to my knees, that devil that so desperately wants to keep me hostage to them still doesn’t seem to know what I know: I am loved! I am supported! I am the favorite daughter of a GOD who IS my C6 and therefore never “all alone”! Nothing is going to steal The Sun from my sky today or take my “Power + Grace“, and NOTHING is going to eclipse the memory of the smiling face of one of the most beautiful human souls I’ve ever known, sad as he may truly have been that night. Bye everyone, it’s me, CAT, and my tiny but mighty ‘lil vertebrae! If I can do this, YOU can do this!