A Blog About 'The Blog'--What Now?

The stuff we put on the internet may always be there but will our great grandchildren be able to access it? Even if our photos, announcements, journals, stories, etc are floating in cyberspace forever, we won't be here forever....what then?

There was an interesting article...on the internet...that tried to inform the masses about the amount of information that is going to be lost over time and how future generations will not have the generational links to know how long-lost family members lived in the past. Our grandparents and parents were wonderful story tellers...we are not, and all those photos stored on a Super 8 or VHS tapes or worse yet, on a cell phone, are not going to stand the test of time. What to do?

I am a compulsive writer. I never wanted to be a nurse or a teacher...only a 'journalist'. I have journals for my garden, journals for my children and grandchildren. I have daily journals and list-journals to remind me of things I want to write in journals. And then there's the Honey's Place Blog. It has been a record of births, deaths, travels, and life's joys since 2006. I've loved being able to type almost as fast as I can think. As arthritis has crept into the crevices of my finger joints, the blog has allowed me to continue my love of journaling.

The article above kind of scared my narcissistic self. Even though I don't plan on going anywhere 'off-earth' for some time yet, I want my future family members to know how this family lived and some things about our culture that affected and formed the people they have become. Each time I have an opportunity to go back through some of these blog ramblings I am left with a few things: I love the way I record things; I have a talent for writing; as I'm reading past blogs I can feel the excitement and/or amazement I felt when I wrote it; and I don't ever intend to stop writing.

Now that was the long way of saying I decided to print off the blog. There are self-publishing companies, such as Blurb.com that have software which converts a blog into book format, and I haven't discounted that route. However, until I get the time and energy to edit hundreds of pages of text and photographs I need to have the paper copy in my hand. I had no idea how much paper that would entail!

I started printing two weeks ago...printing 8-10 blog entries each night. After a week I still had not made a dent in the total number of entries but I had to buy another package of paper and another black ink cartridge. I started printing 20-30 entries each night as I wanted to be done before Christmas but I couldn't help but re-read some of them as I was printing. It was wonderful!

I was able to once more feel the extreme joy of visiting my first grandchild and watching him play in the bath. That crazy 17,000 km trip through Mexico in the beloved LuvMachine made me laugh with our sheer ignorance of doing such a trip and then made me want to do it all over again. I got goosebumps reading about how I described learning I was going to have not one, but two grandaughters and then getting a third! The photos and story of my 'Near Death' experience with the rattlesnake in Arizona made my heart pound all over again! I smiled reading how Ty, Tori, Gillian, and Olivia went from newborns in diapers to independent little monkeys that had me wrapped around their fingers. Once again, I saw the most wonderful sunsets, beautiful landscapes, and amazing places with my darling Wayne. Our recent family holiday in Daytona really happened.  And AFRICA!!! OMG...it WAS real--I DID go!

I finished printing it a few days ago and now what? I've got about 1400 pages that I've got to get into a couple of binders before the pile falls over and a whole new problem of putting it back in order happens!

But here's the lesson. While we can't live in the past it's important that our family knows where they have come from, who helped to mold their personalities, who looks like Great-Grampa and who has the subborness of Aunt Whomever. If I'm not good at telling them, I'm going to continue writing down those things...and from the look of the pile of paper/books beside me, I think I'm doing that.

Mother's Day 2015

Tomorrow is Mother’s Day and while I won’t have breakfast delivered to my bed…I’m not sure I ever got that particular gift…I will enjoy the day and the things that have become my new traditions now that my sons have grown up and have families of their own.  At 68 years old, I am secure in my ‘Motherhood’ and love the relationship that has evolved over time with my children.

As a child, I remember Mother’s Day being only slightly less important that Christmas and just a shade above the celebration line to my Mother’s birthday. It was the day “you showed your Mother how much she meant to you” and that’s a direct quote from the toughest, strongest, most loving Mother ever created.  The first year she instructed my Father not to remind us the day was approaching nor buy anything for her on our behalf was the worst Mother’s Day of my life! My brothers and I assumed he would pick up the slack as he always had and when he didn’t, it became the Mother’s Day from Hell. I can still recall, with absolute clarity, the disappointment and hurt on her face and in her voice, when there was no card, no gift, and no special greeting that morning.  I spent the rest of my life making up for that terrible day.

When my sons were small I loved watching them sneak into the house from school with ‘something’ in a bag and their excitement was contagious.  Their teachers (God Bless Them) came up with some unique gifts for the kids to make for Mother’s Day and I know there is a box in my office with some wonderful cards that contain more glue than words.  As they got older their gifts got more elaborate and yes, there were even times when they didn’t have a gift but they always had the words “I love you Mom”. 

Tomorrow I’ll talk to my sons and tell them how much I love them, because without them I would never have had the opportunity to feel so complete. I’ll wish my daughter-in-laws Happy Mother’s Day because they are dedicated, loving, and wonderful Mothers. I’ll think about my niece Jacky, who is going to have a baby girl that is going to bring so much joy into her life.

And as always, I will go up to the cemetery and spend some time bringing Mom up-to-date on family happenings. In keeping with tradition, I will bring flowers because I promised her on that wretched Mother’s Day 60 years ago that I’d never forget her again.

Happy Mother’s Day!