Thank You

Well, I came home today and the letter from Diane Haddad was still in my inbox. So it’s real.

Diane’s letter was actually not the first e-mail that hit my eye. I saw several e-mails that contained comments from Greta’s Genealogy Bog, and that’s when the news first hit me. So I actually learned through the comments.

And that’s the way it often happens, of course. Because we GeneaBloggers do spend a lot of time talking back and forth. Come on, most of you know it – we love to talk, even if it is in writing.

That’s why I love my blog. I don’t read it, of course, except for when I have to read over what I’ve written. I love it because it’s like my virtual back fence. I go to the Blogger reader (based on the Follow function) that is on the dashboard first, and then (true confession time) I go to that list that extends so far down the left side of this blog and click on the other articles I have not yet read. I apologize if that list makes this blog slow in loading, but I like it that way. Yes, this is a much more primitive way to do my blog reading, but it somehow makes the experience more immediate to me; it really does feel as though I’m “talking over the fence.”

And how I enjoy that experience. So many times I’ll read something another blogger has written and have a shock of recognition or an outburst of vehement agreement – “Yeah, what (s)he said!” – or think “I can really use that information” or “Gosh, I never thought of that before.” We do not have to explain our obsession to other GeneaBloggers; they “get” it. They “get” that insatiable desire to know – about our ancestors, about what happened – and to make sure that these souls who contributed to our existence are never forgotten.

In candor, there are so many times that I read something another GeneaBlogger has written and think “I wish I had written that!” The breadth and depth of talent among Geneabloggers is amazing. Maureen Taylor perceptively added to the list of 40 a sampling of more fantastic GeneaBlogs, and I can think of a bunch more that never fail to inspire me and often make my day. I am so humbled to be on Family Tree’s list of 40, but then I am humbled everyday when I read what my fellow GeneaBloggers have to say.

Thank you, Maureen for your lovely article, thank you Diane Haddad and Family Tree Magazine, thank you to everyone who voted for me, and thanks to all my Genea-buds out there who make life ever so much more interesting!