Generosity is synonymous to...

This morning I had to look up the word "generous" in the thesaurus. Had I been sitting at home at my desk, (which, I'm not going to lie, is hidden under a mile-high pile of clean clothes because I just have not found the time to put them in my closet) I would have cracked open the desk-top thesaurus that I have had since I was 7-years old. This thesaurus has been through a lot - more than a dozen moves up-and-down the California coastline; sitting on more than 20 different desktops and under at least two separate wobbling desk and/or chair legs; alternating between covered in dust and hidden away in dark corners; riddled with dog-eared pages and 4th-grade scribbles.

Though this thesaurus has seen neglected days, there was a time when this particular thesaurus reigned supreme. When I was a wee-tot, I was thirsty for ways to best express myself: certain repetitive statements would not suffice. And while playing "office" at my best friend Jenn's kitchen table one afternoon, I fell in love with her dictionary-thesaurus desk set. So much so that I begged my parents for a matching set. I must have been a good kid (or a spoiled one, some argue - but I like to think that I deserved it!), because my parents were generous enough to appease my pleas. Jenn and I played office much more efficiently with our matching desk-sets for the next few years.

At home, I read that thesaurus cover-to-cover, pouring over words that are the same, similar and different from one another. I was enthralled in the world of words and tried to absorb as much from the yellowing pages of the thesaurus as I could. As I grew older, and found less time to and importance in discover the meaning of words, the pages became less enticing and the thesaurus found a permanent place amongst the rest of the books on the shelf. I continued to make the effort to pack it up and find a home for it everywhere I have had a desk to place it on. But, sadly, the thesaurus has had to wait patiently for its opportunity to be important once again.

And now, a moment for it to shine as it did in days of old: I climbed over the pile of winter sweaters and scarves, and searched the messy desktop for my brittle little thesaurus. In it, I found this:

gen·er·ous  [jen-er-uhs] - adjective 

Definition:  giving, big-hearted

• Synonyms:  acceptable, altruistic, beneficent, benevolent, big, bounteous, bountiful, charitable, considerate, easy, equitable, excellent, fair, free, good, greathearted, helpful, high-minded, honest, honorable, hospitable, just, kind, kindhearted, kindly, lavish, liberal, lofty, loose, magnanimous, moderate, munificent, noble, open-handed, philanthropic, prodigal, profuse, reasonable, soft-touch, thoughtful, tolerant, ungrudging, unselfish, unsparing, unstinting, willing 
• Antonyms:  greedy, mean, miserly, selfish, stingy 

Definition:  plentiful, large in number

• Synonyms:  abounding, abundant, affluent, ample, aplenty, bounteous, bountiful, copious, crawling with, cup runs over with, dime a dozen, eco-rich, exuberant, filled, full, galore, handsome, heavy, large, lavish, liberal, luxuriant, mucho, no end, no end in sight, overflowing, plenteous, plenty, profuse, rich, stinking with, unstinting, wealthy 
• Antonyms:  depleted, lacking, rare, scarce, sparse, wanting

In the past few weeks, GeeTEAM has received generous donations pouring in from all over, supporting C.U.M.F.O.R.T.S. blanket, Project Matt, Mighty Bites!, Team in Training, and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Donations so generous, that Project Matt jumped from 36% commissioned to 85% commissioned in less than a week! (That means a lot of catching up for me, crocheting Donor Medallions like a mad-woman!)

More importantly, the support has rung-out resounding support of my individual efforts, to do what one person can to eliminate the devastating effect that blood cancer currently has on those affected by the disease. My generous family, friends and fans have been more than generous - they have been ample, bounteous, kind, & magnanimous by giving with their whole-hearts to support the cause. I cannot begin to express my gratitude for the support... if I look long enough in this old, dusty thesaurus, perhaps I can find the words.

stay tuned!