5000 and counting

I love this picture. It describes exactly what I imagine a group of bloggers, meeting for the first time, would look like. How could bloggers possibly speak to one another without computers?

In June 2005, I officially set up "Cruisin-mom". I had been reading blogs for awhile by then, and thought it was about time I start lavishing a few lucky recipients with my 2 cents worth of comments.

Lucky them, right?

I knew I would never write anything of my own, because afterall, what on earth would I possibly have to say.

Well, after 6 months of Pearl and Robert pushing and prodding, I finally decided it was time to open my big mouth and put my money where my blog was.

Little did I know that up in that brain of mine, a whole lot of thoughts and feelings were just waiting to jump out and tell a story. I didn't even know I knew how to tell a story. (of course, some of you may think I don't)

But that's what I have been doing since December. Good, bad or indifferent...the stories have been coming.

I'm a shameless self-promoter. When I first began writing, I didn't hesitate to leave a comment on anyone's blog, telling them to come and read mine.

It's not because I think I have something better than anyone else to say. It's not because I write better than anyone, because God knows that's not true. It's not even because I need some ego-filling acknowledgement.

The fact is, I love the interaction. I find it fascinating, stimulating, educating, and most of all, heart-warming.

Without comments, this whole pursuit would be rather boring.

Because of this blog:

I have learned more about my religion than I knew existed.
I have learned more about conservative politics than I ever really wanted to know ;)
I have learned about what is in the hearts and minds of people spanning the timeline from childhood to adulthood.
I have learned what many women felt and remembered about becoming a young lady.
I learned to shoot a gun (OY).
I learned to bake babke (well, no not really, but I can purchase a mean one).
I have learned that many share my taste in movies and music and many don't.
I have learned that I had more to say about my dad who died when I was 10, than I could have imagined.
I have learned about the unthinkable, unimaginable grief that others are journeying through.
I have learned that my husband is a great sport and loves me to depths that even I was unaware of.

After I set up this blog last June, I never looked at it again...until last December.

What I noticed was astonishing. 87 people had come to visit my blog. And I hadn't even written anything yet! I couldn't understand why, so that became the subject of my first post.

I write this post today, because 5000 visits have been made to my blog. Thank you!

Woah...that means that in someway, somehow, things that I had to say, touched someone.
(Or not...maybe they just wanted to come see why someone had to the nerve to post such crappy writing).

Maybe someone laughed or cried, thought about things in a different way, or just realized they are not alone...upon reading something I had written.

I'm just a wife, mom, daughter, sister, aunt, and friend...that some people like, and some, well, maybe not so much. I'm a pretty good person...no one special or famous.

But writing has made me feel special in a way I never expected. It has allowed me the opportunity to formulate thoughts and feelings into stories...to feel them, see them, and share them.

To me, the comments are everything.

They are what make the writing worthwhile.

They are the connection to other's thoughts, feelings, and hearts, that make this world just a little smaller, a little warmer, and a little less overwhelming.

And that just might even be better than t.v. and icecream.