Dear Reader,
I have given a lot of thought about why I blog. When I first started blogging my purpose was to document my memories of raising my children (quadruplets) for my children. As I continued to blog I found myself blogging more about what was going on in my present day life. As my posts continued to be about my life now I created a new blog, and abandoned the blog I began about my memories of raising quadruplets.
I continued to read that one must clearly have a purpose for their blog, and I found that I continued to think about my purpose. I thought and prayed about it, and I came to the real reason why I blog.
Yes, like the subtitle to my blog says, I do share what makes my heart leap for joy. I do write with the intention of uplifting my readers and adding a little joy to your lives. However, there is another reason, the real reason, that I choose to blog.
My mother died from breast cancer when I was 8 years old. I hardly knew her. Her parents had both passed away before I was born. My dad passed away when I was 28 years old. His parents had both passed away before I was born. I did not know my grandparents at all, and I remember very little about my mother. I am abundantly grateful that I knew my dad.
When my children were young I kept journals and diaries. I wanted to be sure that if anything ever happened to me (as morbid as that sounds) they would know me, and they would know how much I loved them. Now, my children are 24, and I am quite confident they know me, and they know how much I love them. So now I write for the purpose that my grandchildren will know me, and my great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren and so on. I believe that if they can get an understanding of who I am through my diaries, journals and blog, they might have a better understanding of where they came from and why they are who they are.
In the book Motherless Daughters: The Legacy of Loss by Hope Edelman I read the words, "I am who I am because my mother died." Fifteen years ago, when I first read those words, I was not convinced. However, now, at the age of 54, I understand that statement. I am who I am because my mother died when I was 8 years old, and I am a blogger because my mother died when I was 8 years old.
Love,
Terry
Mom
Grandma
Great-Grandma
Hi Terry, I've kept a record of my life, too, and documented my children's lives. I've researched my father's ancestry and written it all down in story form for future generations. I even wrote a letter on each of my children's birthdays to them and put it in a file for "just in case". Thankfully, the letters were not needed. I gave the letters to them when they each went off to college. I did all these things because I felt my time here might get lost "in the shuffle" if I didn't. I treasure my grandfather's diaries from 1905-1915 and wish my other ancestors had left behind their thoughts. My sons aren't interested--yet--in my thoughts and memories. Perhaps once they have children of their own it will become important to them. In the meantime, I will faithfully continue to set it all down. How wonderful that we now have Blogs with all the music and photo/video capabilities in which to capture it all!
ReplyDeleteDear Terry, thank you for this post. You are absolutely right and I would like to add: I am what I am because of my 5 children. Of course I educated them together with my wonderful husband. We went through the happy and the unhappy days and we learned a lot by doing this. Last year there was aterrible bus accident in the Alps with many children dead. I felt so terribly sorry for the families and at the same time I thought: what am I worrying about? 5 children, grown-up now and still alive. Have a good time and enjoy your quadruplets(my respect for such a job).
ReplyDeleteMagdalena
What a lovely sentiment! Your heirs will appreciate all you leave them, but especially what you leave from the heart.
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Terri
What a heartfelt post. I think I liked this post because I often wonder exactly why I am blogging. If there is a goal or a focus, I feel pretty scattered in my approach. You have encouraged me to dig a littler deeper to figure out the why for my blog and who I really want to inspire.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
A very beautiful, thoughtful and thought-provoking post. Thank you for telling us a part of your story.
ReplyDelete