23 More Days Until Christmas - Kid Time

As my niece reminded me on the phone last night, it was only 24 more days until Christmas! (Now down to 23 days.) I have a feeling I will hear the continued countdown each time I speak to her until the eagerly awaited event has passed. As with last year, the holidays without her Mom, my younger sister, will be different and difficult, but not in the same way as last year. Last year we were all still in shock. In many ways this year feels like the first one without Patty, but it is a milder grief, more of an intense loneliness than the gut-wrenching pain of having just lost her we were all experiencing last year.

Despite the depressive tone of my blog, I continue to write about my sister because I hope that anyone who may have experienced a similar loss, assuming they happen upon this spot in cyber space, will know that they are not alone and decidedly not abnormal for still thinking of their loved one more than a year after having lost them, especially not during holidays and other special times of year when family and friends are so much more in our focus than other times. We are not alone on this planet, this ever increasingly small globe of rock and earth we call home. It is normal to miss someone we have lost for years after the fact and we need to accept that certain aspects of grief last a lifetime.

That said, I would like to detour for a few moments to comment on an article I read in the Atlantic in the November 2008 edition. In an article titled Why I Blog by Andrew Sullivan, I found much of interest and much to encourage me about blogging in general. Although my blog has primarily been in the form of an online journal and more of a catharsis for me as my life has turned upside down in the middle of everything, Mr. Sullivan has opened new vistas for me as to the possibilities and true nature of blogging. Anyone serious about blogging, be they stolidly determined to remain the same (which may end up being me, I don't know yet - I'm still thinking about it) in their approach, or whether they are looking for a new way to express their own unique blogginess, will find much of interest in this article. The tone is upbeat and enthusiastic and Mr. Sullivan is both erudite and passionate about his subject but not to the point of being overbearing or know-it-all. I will provide the link, to follow, here but not in a very tech savvy way, for which I hope those of you more adept will forgive me for the moment, my mind and energies having been elsewhere for quite sometime now:

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200811/andrew-sullivan-why-i-blog

Peace and happiness to all for this holiday season.

Izzlebug