The quick and dirty answer to why I am here blogging is probably: to keep family and friends updated on the compelling minutiae of my daily life (and that of my daughter and husband), my random musings on motherhood, maintaining a link to my career whilst involved in motherhood, and whatever other garbage comes into my head on a daily (or weekly or monthly) basis. It's a journal, of sorts.
The deeper answer is because of a woman named nienie, linked in my sidebar with an accompanying "donate to nienie" button. Some of you may have wondered who she is and why some stranger is in my sidebar. Nienie's real name is Stephanie, and she is a blogger who I began following off and on during the summer.
On first glance, she and I have very little in common. We're worlds apart politically, she is a devout follower of her Mormon faith, and she's enough years younger than I am that I feel very old and crotchety when reading her posts. But I was drawn into her blog for many reasons - the very apparent love she has for her husband and children, her joy in mothering and the creative spirit she brings to it, the fact that she lives geographically distant from her hometown and pines over being far away from her parents and siblings. All things that I share. Her blog is also just plain fun to read - cute photos, a good sense of storytelling, and sweet observations of her children and her life, a dry wit and a willingness to show all sides of motherhood good and bad - all things I appreciate.
And then in late August I saw an update that stopped me cold - Stephanie and her husband Christian had been in a plane crash, both severely injured. It was touch and go whether she would survive, and she has been in a medically-induced coma since the accident in mid-August.
Since then, I've been awed by the power of community - in this case, the blogging community. Funds have been raised to pay for their medical bills. Folks have contributed money, food, clothes, gifts, time. Online auctions to raise money for them appear seemingly daily. Stephanie's sisters are caring for Stephanie's and Christian's four children, and one sister writes her own blog to raise money and keep the community updated on the family's progress.
It has stunned me.
And, simply, I wanted to be a part of it. I wanted to in some small way help this lovely family, and open my own life up in response to the generosity of their family in sharing their lives.
Maybe your heart will be touched the same way mine was.
Image courtesy of Blue Lily Photography.
I don't know if you read Dooce, but she posts a letter to her daughter every month, which is a lovely idea, I think. I know another mother who prints her blog and keeps it in a scrapbook, which would be something to give to her children when they are older.
ReplyDeleteI think it's a sweet way to keep in touch, especially when our families live on the east coast! ;)