A Greeting Card to the MTG Community
This time of year, I tend to reflect on the blessings in my life. Among them is the MTG community. I hope this message is taken with the love that is intended and reaches those who need to hear it.
I was born into a large family with all of the problems that large families have. Of my 6 siblings, I am the third. We grew up with very little, but enough. My father was a pipefitter who was almost always getting laid off and my mother worked as an assistant manager at Pizza Hut for a large part of my childhood. At our highest point, we lived on a small farm with my father working steadily. At our lowest, we lived in a tent in a friend’s backyard. My older brothers struggled with alcohol and drugs, and spent time in prison for violent and nonviolent crimes.
I left home when I was 18 to join the military. A year in, my sister, the youngest of the siblings and my best friend growing up, was diagnosed with brain cancer and spent the last year of her life, after losing her sight and her ability to walk, bringing attention to childhood brain cancer through the Children’s Miracle Network.
What was left of my family broke into pieces.
I met the love of my life when I was 21 years old. She was having some self esteem issues at the time and I took advantage of her momentary low standards in men. I can’t adequately explain my feelings for this woman. They are outside of my understanding and hover somewhere in the area of where I believe God resides.
We had a son together, and if you have not had a child, I can only explain the feeling by getting you to imagine what it is like to have your heart crawl out of your chest and walk around, bumping into the furniture. His hugs cured me of whatever hesitancy I had in my life. As he grew, it became clear that he would have more challenges than other kids his age. He was diagnosed with autism, anxiety, and depression. And I can’t stress enough how powerless a man can feel holding his son and praying that he makes it through the internal battles of these afflictions. But he did, and has grown into himself in ways I only dreamt.
If you’re wondering if there is a point, there is.
I know that each of us has a story like this. This life I have isn’t unique to me. Traveling in the military I have had little time to find a consistent group of friends. My focus on succeeding at my job and caring for my family left almost no room for friends of any kind.
Then, a few years back, I discovered the community of MTG content creators. And not only did it fill the void of friendship, it could follow me wherever I went.
This community is important to me because it was there for me when I needed friendship and camaraderie. I saw in the content creators whom I met the same loneliness and pain that was riddled throughout my life and the lives of my family members, and I felt the way any family member would. I wanted to reach out to each and every one of them and let them know that they’re not alone, and that they are not invisible…that they mattered.
They mattered to me.
This holiday season, I want to thank the MTG community for what it has given me. I want to thank the YouTubers, the streamers, the cosplayers, the writers, and the social media creators. You have made this game into something more than just a game. And if you don’t hear it from anyone else this year…I appreciate what you do. Thank you for another great year of kinship and here’s to many many more.
I was born into a large family with all of the problems that large families have. Of my 6 siblings, I am the third. We grew up with very little, but enough. My father was a pipefitter who was almost always getting laid off and my mother worked as an assistant manager at Pizza Hut for a large part of my childhood. At our highest point, we lived on a small farm with my father working steadily. At our lowest, we lived in a tent in a friend’s backyard. My older brothers struggled with alcohol and drugs, and spent time in prison for violent and nonviolent crimes.
I left home when I was 18 to join the military. A year in, my sister, the youngest of the siblings and my best friend growing up, was diagnosed with brain cancer and spent the last year of her life, after losing her sight and her ability to walk, bringing attention to childhood brain cancer through the Children’s Miracle Network.
What was left of my family broke into pieces.
I met the love of my life when I was 21 years old. She was having some self esteem issues at the time and I took advantage of her momentary low standards in men. I can’t adequately explain my feelings for this woman. They are outside of my understanding and hover somewhere in the area of where I believe God resides.
We had a son together, and if you have not had a child, I can only explain the feeling by getting you to imagine what it is like to have your heart crawl out of your chest and walk around, bumping into the furniture. His hugs cured me of whatever hesitancy I had in my life. As he grew, it became clear that he would have more challenges than other kids his age. He was diagnosed with autism, anxiety, and depression. And I can’t stress enough how powerless a man can feel holding his son and praying that he makes it through the internal battles of these afflictions. But he did, and has grown into himself in ways I only dreamt.
If you’re wondering if there is a point, there is.
I know that each of us has a story like this. This life I have isn’t unique to me. Traveling in the military I have had little time to find a consistent group of friends. My focus on succeeding at my job and caring for my family left almost no room for friends of any kind.
Then, a few years back, I discovered the community of MTG content creators. And not only did it fill the void of friendship, it could follow me wherever I went.
This community is important to me because it was there for me when I needed friendship and camaraderie. I saw in the content creators whom I met the same loneliness and pain that was riddled throughout my life and the lives of my family members, and I felt the way any family member would. I wanted to reach out to each and every one of them and let them know that they’re not alone, and that they are not invisible…that they mattered.
They mattered to me.
This holiday season, I want to thank the MTG community for what it has given me. I want to thank the YouTubers, the streamers, the cosplayers, the writers, and the social media creators. You have made this game into something more than just a game. And if you don’t hear it from anyone else this year…I appreciate what you do. Thank you for another great year of kinship and here’s to many many more.
You are the best, JJ, and we all have nothing but love for you, bud! I hope your family has the best Christmas! 🤘😁🤘
ReplyDeleteI know that each of us has a story like this. This life I have isn’t unique to me. Traveling in the military I have had little time to find a consistent group of friends. My focus on succeeding at my job and caring for my family left almost no room for friends of any kind.
ReplyDeleteThen, a few years back, I discovered the community of MTG content creators. And not only did it fill the void of friendship, it could follow me wherever I went.
This community is important to me because it was there for me when I needed friendship and camaraderie. I saw in the content creators whom I met the same loneliness and pain that was riddled throughout my life and the lives of my family members, and I felt the way any family member would. I wanted to reach out to each and every one of them and let them know that they’re not alone, and that they are not invisible.
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