So, I'm still celebrating five years of this little blog. Why, I'm not sure, except that I have more links to share. Trust me, I don't actually think that five years of oversharing on the internet is actually something to get this excited about. Wow. My grammar sucks.
In December 2006, I had my first miscarriage. I was 12 weeks pregnant. It was two days after Christmas. I was in Tennessee visiting my family. It was my first baby. I had to have a D&C in a strange hospital with a doctor I didn't know.
It sucked.
I wrote about it. A lot. I was open and raw.
And then something I would almost call miraculous happened. People found me. Women who I didn't know started commenting. I followed links from comments around the internet and found a whole community of women who were dealing with their private pain in a very public way.
I spent hours in front of the computer, weeping for people I had never met. It was cathartic. It helped me with my own grief. It also helped form a community for me.
Tanis is best known as Redneck Mommy. Her blog has won too many awards to list here. She is a great storyteller and a really funny lady.
She had another blog before Attack of the Redneck Mommy though. I started reading Tanis when she was writing on Missing My Bug. She stopped posting there in 2007, but the archives are still there. If you have some time and a large box of Kleenex, it is so worth reading. Her words about being the mother of Shale, who was born with disabilities and died too soon.
If you don't have a lot of time, I would suggest you read this one post of hers. You only need a few minutes, but you'll still need the box of Kleenex.
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There are others with stories of grief. Some of the writing is so beautiful.
I just tried for a metaphor there. I tried like five times, and none of them worked. Some of the writing is so beautiful. That's enough.
Daniel is one of the few male bloggers I have followed almost religiously. I started reading his blog the night we got home from Tennessee after that miscarriage. Kevin tried to get me to stop, because the sobbing was a little disconcerting. But I couldn't stop. And the sobbing wasn't pity. It was sorrow for all the losses. Parents, spouses, children, everyone. Plus, Daniel is the most amazing writer. Sometimes I would just cry because his words were so beautifully woven.
He doesn't post often anymore, but I'm always so happy when he does. I think he feels as though he owes it to the internet to occasionally update. Of course he doesn't, but I'm not going to mention that - because selfishly, I hope he will start writing more again.
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If you have followed those links, then I owe you a funny one. Luckily, I've got one. Jessica at Oh, the Joys, was the first blogger who got me laughing again in early 2007. One morning in January, I sat and read her entire blog. I needed Kleenex for her writing, but the tears were from laughter.
She is not just funny though. She's a really great person too. Dig around a little bit, and you'll see that she works tirelessly for the gain of others. She's the kind of person you would be lucky to have on your side.
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This is part of my fifth blog birthday party. These are simply bloggers I have been reading for five years and have impacted me. They are being featured in no particular order.
