Blogger Friends...Near and Far

When I first started blogging a longtime friend of mine said "don't get so caught up in your blog world that you abandon your real friends". I smirked a bit, because this whole crazy blog thing started because one of my real friends had been blogging and encouraged me to start one of my own. I had been reading her blog for a while and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a great way for me to stay caught up with all of her projects, her family...she has teenage boys that I have known since they were babies.

So, with a lot of encouragement from my pal I got going with my own blog. It's a great exercise for me, as I age I feel like I'm getting complacent...this keeps me focused on what's happening here on the farm and in the world around me. I'm looking closer at my cooking, gardening, home projects....it's a motivator. I'm taking more photos than ever before and working to get better at it.

Of course, as with any other project we learn from others. I started checking out other bloggers, what they were writing, what they were taking photos of. I started to find some favorite blogs and got brave enough to leave a comment or two ...lo and behold..they commented on my blog as well, I was so excited. One of my commenters is Lisa, I don't remember if I commented on her blog first or if she commented on mine. I check Lisas blog often, we have a lot of the same interests, I think of her as one of my blogger-buddies. I love to see her photo on my comment roll and see what she has to say about my posts, she's always positive, she's often funny...just what I look for in a friend. I check Lisa's blog often to see what's new in her world.

Sunday morning I checked Lisa's blog and there was a picture of her husband...under his photo Lisa had noted his birthdate, and Saturdays date. He had passed away. I gasped, I was so very sad for my new friend...my heart went out to her. In a post yesterday Lisa said that she will be shutting down her blog very soon. Her husband helped her make her blog happen, without him her blog can't really exist. Yesterday while I was out working in the yard, I thought about all of the posts that I had been looking forward to sharing with Lisa, who is also a passionate gardener. I was hoping to learn from her about butterfly gardening, now when I see butterflies in the garden I will always think of her, and her boys...moving ahead ...without their much loved husband and father.

I will miss you Lisa, thank you for being a bright spot for me in blog-land...
My heart aches for you.