I am back. More or less. Well, more more than less. I invite you to log onto the home page to read my new blog - lots of news and updates about the website.
It's been beyond rough for me since Sid's death, and my next blog will address where I have been, where I am now, and how I got here - emotionally speaking.
But for now, I am excited to share with you the latest news and updates regarding the website in my new blog.
Thank you for all of your support. I would not have made it without you.
Hi Joan, May I be the first to welcome you back. I thought that maybe you were ready to leave all this behind, and would not fault you one bit. I am a newcomer and have been holding onto this website like a drowning person clings to a lifeline. I've been working my way back through blogs and discussions, and I feel that I have many friends here in that they they know and experience the same pain, doubts, small joys. I am not alone because you started this website. And you have not been alone either. This is really the most supportive and loving space. Lindylou
Welcome back, Joan. It will be interesting to have a re-vamped website. I hope it will not be too complex for those of us with one foot on both sides of the digital divide. (And a tendency to fall right into it--lol.) I had the same experience as you, in that I thought that after Larry's death, I would at least have peace and a sense of closure and be able to move forward, even though I would be sad. Oh my goodness. I was completely unprepared for how horrible it was going to be--yes, anguish is the word. I just never knew grief would be like that--it affects every system in the body, I would say. I am coming out of it on the other side with new and unexpected joys, and with a big sense of gratitude for having had that wonderful, special relationship. I think that when the day is done, the two most meaningful relationships in my life will have been Larry and also my one grandmother. (The one who stayed in the States instead of going back to England when she wanted to, because of us, her grandchildren.) Life is sure different than I ever expected, but I think it is going to work out. This website has gotten me through it.
Don't anyone worry about the revamping of the website. It will be just as user friendly as it has always been. The technology has changed so much since I launched it in 2007, that it is in desperate need of updating.
Matt's company will be doing the graphic design ( with my control freak input, of course), and along with the "package proposal", I will be getting hours of training in the new web design software. His company will also take over the hosting from Go Daddy, and that should fix the Google problem that says my site may have been hacked. He has been working on getting that resolved for months with Google, and they keep rejecting his fixes.
Thank you all for your help in funding this venture. A special thanks to m-mann* for helping me purchase my new computer. I finally ditched the desktop (Matt built the one I had been using 6 years ago. Yikes! I couldn't believe it was that long ago), and I bought a high powered laptop.
I'm doing the best I can to find a balance between the solitary writing and web work that I love, and trying to find social activities. It's still a struggle to make new friends, but I am going to every activity that interests me. The truth of the matter is that I HATE this life without Sid. HATE IT. But it's what I was dealt, and I am trying to live it as best as I can.
This new website stuff will take a long time, from raising the funds to design decisions, to Matt putting it together ( 4-5 weeks at least), to me learning how to use it. I am hoping that it will be finished, learned (??? That will take the longest), and up and running by its 9th anniversary in July.
BTW, the message board will stay as it is, with all of the previous discussions intact.
Thank you to everyone for your years of love and support.