On September 13, 2004, a little child just shy of her 9 month birthday, died of Acute Myeloid Leukemia. Her name is Allie! At the time our Anna was just a month younger. It hit so close to home.
Allie's mom, Jenny, did something that many weren't doing at the time. She kept this little online journal of their time spent fighting for Allie. Jenny was also on Babycenter.com. Babycenter.com has what they call Birth Boards. They are online forums where pregnant woman could come together with others that are due at the same time as them. Jenny was in the December birth board and I was in the January one.
When Allie was diagnosed with AML word spread fast. Every birth board around her's was posting about Allie and the journal that Jenny was writing. Jenny's writings in her "journal" was transparent and full of raw emotions. We all followed along and waited patiently for a new entry to see how Allie was doing.
Many people were called to action by her writing. Donations were made. Prayers were said. Anything we could do to help in small ways. And then when that day came in September and Allie took her last breath, we cried. And cried.
That was my introduction to online non-fiction writing. From there I linked to other blogs or journals of other parents with children who had blood cancers. And then from there I was linked to other blogs. And those people shared other blogs they love so I got linked to them. And before I knew it I was reading so many blogs I couldn't keep up anymore. My bookmarks folder was a mile long. (THANK YOU GOOGLE READER FOR COMING INTO MY LIFE!)
The online writing world took on a life of it's own and it has been fun to ride along with it. I still follow Jenny at her newer blog home where she blogs about her three adorable girls and the non-profit organization she started with another mom that lost a daughter to AML. Heroes for Children was started to support families in Texas who have children battling cancer. Let me tell you, that lady inspires me. I also follow her "posse" of best friends who all came together because of Allie and Jenny's journal. Amazing what this world of blogging can pull together. That is what inspires me the most.
That a place that Jenny thought she was just recording what her Allie was going through and to keep family up to speed, turns into a support network and a "family" of followers that are loyal and loving. I just saw some tweets from Jenny today that say that the 6th Annual Heroes for Children 5K event has over 1350 registrants and more than $36,000 raised. Amazing! Would you consider adding to that donation total?
There are so many stories like Allie's that I have followed over the years but Allie is the reason I read blogs and ultimately I believe the reason why I started my own blog many years later! Her story is also the reason why I have on my list (and sadly have for 6 years) to put myself on the bone marrow registry. Yes, I will do that by the end of the year. So much good has come from those blogs and many support networks formed. Ok, enough gushing.
My question of the day: Can you pinpoint the time when you really started reading blogs or if there was an event that triggered the start of your own blog?
5 comments:
I started my blog the night the day Kieran was born, I believe! I was in the hospital, trying to keep track of all his health updates and relay info between family members and I was on magnesium sulfate still...it was a mess. So I started the blog that day to update everyone on his progress and I'm so glad I did! I've done personal journaling since 2004 over at LiveJournal, so public blogging is relatively new for me. But I know my family's really appreciating it, and I'm having fun keeping in touch with new friends!
I think I started reading scrapbooking blogs when I had my first job at Mayo - in the patient call center. I had some free time between calls!
I currently follow about 80 blogs, but I am relentless about unfollowing if I find I that the postings do not interest me. For the record, I tend to follow friends and families blogs the closest.
Because I get so emotionally involved when I read blogs about sick children, I limit myself to one at a time. Right now - it's our Hanna. She is our 16 year old next door neighbor who is courageously and graciously battling bone cancer and lost her entire right leg to it in June.
As for my personal blog - I use it mostly to keep family up to date on the kids...but I also try to further my own writing a bit. Mostly from a comedic standpoint, if I can. It is also a bit of a journal for me. I find when I scrapbook, I go back to old blog posts and use it for journalling.
Tracy, Interesting you said that about limiting the number of sick children blogs. I too had to do that as it just got to be too much for me. So much sadness but also can be so much hope.
A few of my friends had blogs that I would sporadically follow. When I went on bed rest, it seemed like a good thing to start for our family! It was during that time that I discovered the blog Confessions of a CF Husband. It was very real to me because we had just found out that Grayson was a CF carrier. From there, I would click from one blog to the next, and now I follow way to many to count!
Wow- what great stories.....here is my one question.....Tina you got me to make my own blog which is working great, but I do not get how to find other blogs or how they find me. We still need to have that get-to -gether I guess!! hhahaha Someday I will catch on to the current century.
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