Mary G embodied all the best virtues of jackals on Balloon Juice and seemingly had none of our vices. Her resourcefulness was impressive and her good humor was always on display.
Here’s a collection of some of the classic posts we’ve been remembering as we think about Mary G.
The Rescue: Mary & Higgs Boson’s Mate (2013)
The L.A. Meetup in 2014
The 4-part Garden Chat series in March and April 2014, from Mary G and Higgs Boson’s Mate
West Coast Sunday Morning Garden Chat: Sweet Peas & Sweet Pets
And a Garden Chat update from Mary & Higgs Boson’s Mate in June 2014
911 Episode (2016)
Mary G. On the Road, though technically it was a cruise (2017)
Open thread.
Russia Suspended from the U.N. Human Rights Council
Wolvesvalley
If it’s helpful to anyone, here are the comment numbers that begin the relevant conversations in the four “rescue” posts:
HBM’s initial “goodbye” comment 8/4/13 (Open Thread, #35)
Mary’s first rescue comment 8/5/13 (RIP Artie Donovan, #17)
Mary’s first update 8/6/13 (Made It to Madison, #90)
Mary’s next update 8/9/13 (Farewell, Amelia Peabody, #4)
Old School
RIP Mary G.
VeniceRiley
Ugh. Sad news. R.I.P. Mary G.
schrodingers_cat
I will miss you Mary G. You were a wonderful human being. Glad to have known you.
बुद्धम शरणं गच्छामि
schrodingers_cat
@Watergirl: Excellent compilation. Thanks!
HeleninEire
I just re-read the Mary G post where she fell down; wow. I have 2 thoughts, one important; one funny.
1. The important thought. Do you think there is any way we can organize our own help train with people on this blog? That is..for example I live in NYC and there are other jackals who live here. Can we somehow share personal information (of course approved by the participants) so that if someone near needs something another jackal can provide it? I would be willing to organize it.
2. The funny thing. Mary told us that the “cute” EMS guys showed up. ? My sister Jo-Ann, who now owns her own restaurant, was a restaurant server for 30 years. One day when she was a server she slipped on some liquid on the floor. She fell straight back and smashed her head on the floor. Was knocked out. Here is her description to me “Helen I woke up on my back with the most GORGEOUS man I’ve ever seen leaning over me and I had no idea why. Later my friend Joyce (her co-worker) said ‘Jo-Ann he was so hot that I almost laid down next to you pretending I fell too!!”
So. Anyway. May Mary G rest in peace.
WaterGirl
@HeleninEire: I was thinking, not at all the same, but that we could have a voluntary buddy system for the regulars so that at least one person on BJ knows how to reach them in real life.
WaterGirl
@HeleninEire: Thanks for sharing your story in part 2!
My favorite part of the Mary 911 story is “tell your friends to stop calling 911.”
HeleninEire
@WaterGirl: Yeah that was both funny and life-affirming. She had TOO MANY people who cared for her!! (Not that that’s a thing ?)
MazeDancer
Had forgotten about HBM/Dennis posting back in 2013. That was an all hands on deck moment.
But Mary G was the Goddess in action. What a wonderful woman.
I had remembered how good they were together and all the lovely stuff HBM built/did/cooked. But I can’t recall the denouement. Did Higgs leave? Is he okay now?
piratedan
@WaterGirl: over at LGF (Little Green Footballs) they’ve used a voluntary system of people exchanging Facebook names as a just in case…
Miss Bianca
Oh, I just read the 911 thread again. What a trip down memory lane.
WaterGirl
@piratedan: I’m out of luck then, I don’t use facebook!
Wolvesvalley
@MazeDancer:
I remember that eventually HBM felt he was ready to go back to his family. I have looked for Mary G.’s comment mentioning that, but I have not found it yet.
Tony Jay
June last year I threw out one of my periodical rants about British politics and Mary G responded with the comment below. I include it because it has all the elements that made her such a valuable and valued member of this eclectic little world we visit every day. Warm, friendly, curious, informed, and always – always – ever so kind.
“ I need a cigarette after that lovely rant, except that I’d be up to 3 packs of Marlboros a day within a week and dead in months. I think Russia got its hooks into you guys years ago; I remember reading about the insane increase in the prices of luxury flats and houses being bought for full asking by Russians with suitcases full of cash money back in the late 90s? early 10s?
It was a dress rehearsal for the USA where we worship money and vote for Republicans because we’re going to strike oil under our cubicle desk any day now. We don’t have the class thing as much, though, with “oh, has a posh accent, went to Eton and Oxbridge, and therefore knows more than us proles,” attitude. Ours are more likely to hate people with a lot of knowledge and money.
The press here isn’t as homogenous, and journalists who got laid off for being liberal are starting substacks and independent news outlets and raking muck to various degrees of success, so the brainwashing isn’t going as well as they’d like. Plus Boris is much more plausible to the low info voters than TFG. And Democrats, though still herds of cats, are refusing to go along with the march of fascism. Who knows if we can keep it up.
Another sign of healing – my neighbor MAGAt to the east, who attends some kind of superstore church, maybe Scott Warren’s, I dunno and don’t want to know, has restarted her “Bible Group” today for the first time in 15 months. Twenty or thirty women get dressed up like Real Housewives, show up, there is a short prayer that sounds like it was written by cheerleaders, then the Lord’s Prayer, and finally two or three hours of eating and drinking. They chat loudly about things having nothing to do with religion after the first ten minutes. Plus screeching and laughing. It’s very loud today. I am pretty sure they are all vaccinated, though.”
Not a bad bone in her. RIP Mary G. I’m ever so happy I made you smile sometimes.
MazeDancer
@Wolvesvalley:
Thanks. Hope that was a good choice for him.
laura
A lovely woman gone too soon and leaving so many broken hearts. I cant help but think of the teenager and how kind and generous she was towards him. I have hope that her influence will have a lasting impression on him and that her life and kind ways will reverberate in his his life.
zhena gogolia
@Tony Jay: So sweet. Thank you for that. I think I saw it at the time, but nice to be reminded.
Suzanne
She was good people and I will miss her mightily around these parts.
Wolvesvalley
@MazeDancer:
I hope so, too.
eclare
Bittersweet to read all of these. You will be missed, Mary G.
Sure Lurkalot
Thanks, WaterGirl, for pulling this together for those of us who missed some of Mary G’s greatest hits.
My, she was a gem, more than I ever knew from being present on threads with her in the past 6 or so years after finding this place. Thoughtful, witty and kind beyond measure.
debbie
Mary G would have approved:
Starfish
Thank you for putting this together. I missed a lot of them because they were in the garden chat threads.
Whatever happened to Higgs Boson’s Mate?
It was interesting to see from the meet up thread that people were tired of Edward Snowden in 2014.
eclare
@debbie: That is one determined tortoise!
Gin & Tonic
Reading the 911-call thread, I see that both Schlemazel and efgoldman were commenting in it as well. Maybe they’re having a meet-up with Mary G now.
Miss Bianca
@Gin & Tonic: I know, I was having a little happy-sad sniffle seeing all their nyms again.
debbie
@eclare:
And speedy!
mrmoshpotato
Just read the 911 post. Well done, everyone!
kalakal
@watergirl
Thankyou for compiling this. She was a wonderfully kind person
Raven
I’m glad to read this, I’d forgotten.
”
Adam L Silverman
JULY 7, 2016 AT 9:45 PM
@WaterGirl: No worries on this end. I was off site and off the site when she asked for help, but between Cole, BettyC, Raven, and a few others, they got things sorted as quickly as they could for her.”
HumboldtBlue
WHAT THE FUCK!
Well that’s some terrible news to read, what an absolutely lovely woman who will be sorely missed.
Fuck, this sucks.
JoyceCB
Terrible news, she will be missed so much as all of you have said – I’m late to the news due to pretty much only reading On The Road these days, that and the garden chats because I can’t quite face the world as it is… RIP seems so inadequate, I hope she has some loved ones somewhere who knew she was a big part of Balloon Juice… it’s an awful world sometimes…
dearmaizie
Long time lurker. Sorry to hear about Mary G. The good ones leave us too soon.
Enjoyed reading this post. Thanks, @WaterGirl.
I’m curious though. What happened with Higgs Boson’s Mate? He still around?
Dupe1970
@HeleninEire:
I live in Dallas (Richardson specifically) and am willing to help out anyone in Dallas area if needed.
dearmaizie
@Tony Jay:
Thanks for posting your Mary G story. So war-weary and sick-to-fucking-death of republicans, I could cry. This made me smile. Wish there were a way to read all Mary G’s posts.