My Story
My name is Kazia Hodges. I’m twenty-six years old, married, and I have a three-year old daughter. I work from home doing free-lance web design, for both commercial and non-profit organizations.
I am Browncoat. For those of you who might be unfamiliar with the term, a Browncoat is a fan of Joss Whedon’s television series Firefly and the film Serenity. In the ‘Verse of the show and film, Browncoats were independence fighters. When the fans adopted the name Browncoats, they were fighting to bring the show back on-air after it was canceled before the first season was completed. The movie Serenity was filmed mostly due to the fan response to the Firefly’s demise.
Many Browncoat groups have formed around the world over the years, and while they still maintain their fan roots, they have begun working hard for local and global charities. It is out of love for both the ‘Verse that Joss created and for the friendships I have formed in the Browncoat community that I am very proud to call myself a Browncoat.
Like a lot of women, I have struggled with my weight for most of my life. When I got married in 2003, I was well on my way to getting into shape, with the help and support of my family. Soon after my wedding, my mother was diagnosed with colon cancer and passed away a few short months later in the spring of 2004. I was very close to my mother, and her death affected me profoundly. A lot of my plans for my future, including my weight loss and medical school, just slipped to the wayside.
I entered what I can only describe as an emotional state of limbo. I quickly gained back the weight I had lost, plus more. I gave birth to my daughter in 2006, and that just helped compound the weight problem, though having my daughter helped with my emotional problems a bit. My husband and I struggled with financial issues for several years after my daughter was born, and my depression only deepened. A lot of the time, I would eat my way through my depression and anxiety.
In early 2008, I sat down to watch the Firefly series on DVD. After the first episode, I was hooked. I started doing a bit of research into it online and discovered a massive fandom dedicated to the show. Some of my searches led me to a Nathan Fillion (one of the main actors in Firefly and Serenity) fan group called NathanNation. As I started to get to know the people involved in the group, I began to wake up from my years long bout with depression. I soon learned that a good many of the fans were also involved in an organization called The Kids Need to Read Foundation (KNTR), which was founded by author PJ Haarsma and Nathan Fillion. Upon delving more into the program, I decided to see how I could help out.
To make a long story short, I have become quite involved with KNTR and the Browncoat community: especially the Austin Browncoats (who are generously sponsoring this pledge drive) and Can’t Stop the Serenity. I owe a lot to the members of all of these groups for helping me find myself again. I’m becoming more outgoing and more independent again; I’m almost back to normal, back to how I was before my mom got sick.
However, there is still the issue of my weight. After the 2008 holiday season, my weight hit an all-time high, 204 lbs. Eek!! On my 5′0″ frame, that is quite a bit of weight, and let me tell you, seeing that really shocked me. Instead of letting the fact that I topped 200 lbs get me depressed, I am letting it motivate me to do something about it. I am going to get healthy, once and for all, and STAY healthy. Not just for myself, but for my husband and my daughter.
An idea hit me one evening after the New Year about a way to combine my journey to a new, healthy me with my desire to somehow give back to one of the amazing organizations that helped me wake up and love life again. I would make my weight loss efforts public and allow people to sponsor me with pledges during the process. All proceeds from pledges will go to The Kids Need to Read Foundation.
That is how HealthyGiving.org was born. I am hoping to raise awareness as well as funds for KNTR with this site and keep myself motivated in knowing that I have a much larger support group than I have ever had before in any of my weight loss attempts.
Thank you for visiting the site and for listening to my story. Please consider pledging to the cause. If you are unable to make a monetary pledge, please spread the word about this project with your friends and family or consider organizing similar efforts for KNTR or your favorite charity. As Nathan Fillion says, “kindness is a strength”, and any effort you make to help those around you makes a big difference.
