When Andy started this blog five years ago, I don’t think I even knew what a blog was. We were in the middle of a major remodel and I was pregnant with our third kid. Unbeknownst to me, he was taking pictures and posting them on this blog. It wasn’t until a couple of years later when Josie was born, that I became interested.
It started with posting a photo here and there. This process would usually take me anywhere from 1-2 hours depending on how many pictures I wanted to post. This gradually turned into writing a few happenings from our lives to accompany the photos. And before I knew it, BAM! I decided I liked writing.
I have always enjoyed telling stories, but it caught me by surprise that I would enjoy writing them all down. What started as jotting down the latest for all our readers/followers (by all, I mean our family) has ended up starting me on a new path of writing. I’ve written a few essays for contests, but mostly short stories and other nonsense.
Nonsense is what is has seemed like, to me, until a couple of months ago when it happened. Winning a contest? No. A book deal? Yeah, right. I met a fan. Yep, I said it. I found a fan of my stories, someone, other than a family member, who has already heard them a million times.
I ran into her at a party after not seeing her for several years. “I read your blog. I love your stories about your family. They make me laugh and sometimes even want to cry,” she said.
Wait. Stop right there. She is not related to me, hasn’t seen me in five years, and she actually reads my blog? (Notice how I like to call it mine now.) You would have thought I won entertainer of the year.
We had time to catch up and she related some of her favorite stories from this here blog. She actually remembered them! This is a woman who is very funny and was cracking me up with stories of her own family’s adventures. I couldn’t come down off my high. It’s ridiculous, but it’s true.
That was all I needed to keep writing our stories down. They aren’t just mine to tell. There are many characters within each plot. Some are simple, some more complex, but interesting all the same. My grammar isn’t the greatest, I don’t know how to construct a perfect sentence, but I love telling stories.
So many thanks to Andy, who started this whole thing. And I’d like to thank Rachel, my one fan, for making me laugh and encouraging me to keep telling stories. I’d also like to thank the academy?….
