Thursday, September 11, 2008

Once Again, Change is the Thing

It's Thursday evening and I'm not doing a "Friday Show and Tell - and Twin Update." I will not be posting pictures for a twin update - maybe ever again. It is a sad fact of life, but one I have to live with. I regret terribly, my impulsive deletion of all my pictures on Flickr - I didn't recall the consequence, that all of the pix would disappear from my posts! So sad.


I have not written anything for a week. Many thoughts are running through my mind. I have missed you all during this unexpected, unplanned bloggy break.


9/ll - my sister's birthday for the last 60 years, and the last seven years, a date of infamy. It was hard for my sis to have this birthday for the first few years after the tragedy. I haven't written about my sister, who has always been my best friend. V was born two weeks before my first birthday. We are always "twins" for two weeks. We loved it when we were kids. The only problem - I always knew what I was going to get for my birthday two weeks later. Same at Christmas.


We don't do big birthday gifts in our family, but V and I always do something - sometimes lunch, sometimes breakfast, usually something "autumn-y" for our houses. Today I did something fun. She still teaches (ESL in middle school - English as a Second Language). She's a good teacher. I went back to the middle school my kids attended years ago and surprised her in her classroom. I was glad to see that she has an actual classroom - there have been years when her program was so undervalued that she was stuck in the janitor's closet as her students came to her for their classes. She has one more year of teaching and then we'll be able to get together for lunch more often.


Today I gave her two pictures that I had scanned and framed for her - one frame from H*bby L*bby was specifically for a Sisters picture.


Here we are about 4 and 3 - taken while Dad was in college in St. Paul, Minnesota - Mom would have been all of 22, and was dealing with mono and 3 kids. That's me the blonde, and her with the glasses - she got them at age 2. Note the beautiful wall behind us? We lived in the basement of the boys' dorm - we played church, as always, with me "playing the piano" by sitting backwards on the steps, my little legs swinging as I sat pretending to accompany the singing. Our life was all about church. Hmmm. Some things never change - I'm still accompanying singing at church, mostly on the organ.

We LOVED our circle skirts! This was taken in Heber Springs, Arkansas.




If you hear of anyone who can't find me and would like to be invited to read my private blog, please have them e-mail me so I can add them. It is so sad that this is necessary, but you do what you have to do. I have done a lot of thinking about this blogging thing this week. Why is it so important? Is it important? I came to the conclusion that many of us have lately - it can become consuming and can take up too much time. But it has become such a big part of our lives and we've formed such close friendships that it is hard to fathom saying good-bye forever. So, for me, it IS important - it is a lifeline I have found and has been some of the most fun I've had. Some in my life just don't get it - but for me it's not only prayer support and good laughs and new information and just plain fun to have new friends, but it's been a way to bring writing back into my life, something I had neglected for too long. God has used this for such good - look no further than the healthy twins to validate that fact.


I have been looking at the reality - I will miss making new friends who happen across my site and find something they like. It is sad that someone else's actions have forced me to go underground, so to speak. But, as decided, a private blog is better than none at all - and I can keep in touch with those who really want to.


Thanks for your friendship, your prayers, the enjoyment you have brought me as I've kept up with your lives.

26 comments:

Amanda said...

Thanks for the invite. I was planning on getting in touch for one. (: I know I rarely comment, but I love to read and keep up with things. Prayers are always being said for ALL the girlies

Mary said...

Dawn,

You sound a bit down-hearted tonight and that makes me rather sad. You are always such an upbeat person. I'm so sorry you are going through this. I'm keeping you and your family in my prayers.

Blessings,
Mary

Mary said...

PS Remember, God is in control. :-)

Christa said...

Thank you for inviting me to your blog. I will miss the photos of the twins and girls, but understand. I use Picasa. It starts out on your computer then you can open up a web account, and post as privete or open.. I have both, you can check them out on my blog. I pray for you and yours and the situation at hand.
Take care and God Bless

Diane@Diane's Place said...

I'm sad for your sake about the pictures, but your blog is about more than pictures. I know how you feel though, in part. Pictures do add to the post and I use them a lot, as you know.

As you say, better a by-invitation-only private blog than no blog at all. And if you want to share pics of the twins or any other pics, you can send them by email occasionally so we can see how they're growing, etc.

I hope the situation is resolved at the next court date.

Love and hugs,

Diane

Kristen said...

I apologize on behalf of my soon to be ex-husband to you, Mom, and to your faithful readers that this had to happen. But it's all about the safety of the kids at this point in time.

Thanks to you and your readers for being flexible to the change and hopefully one of these days things can be different.

Change is something I am all to familiar with over the past four months. And while it's so, so hard in many ways....it is so, so, SO good in so many more ways.

Love to you and your readers....
Kristen

Linds said...

Great idea of Diane's - email us updates now and then! It is great to see you up and posting, Dawn. You have a voice back again, and I am delighted to see you here.

jmckemie said...

Praying for you all today as these changes continue in your life. As Kristen posted, change can also be good. As with so much in our lives, we do not always see the big picture. But, God has a way of making good come of things we initially see as negative. Glad you have an option to keep this part of your life somewhat in tact. For many people it really IS important; both those writing and those reading. I, for one, am thankful for the opportunity of this electronic age to stay in touch and up to date with friends and family separated by miles.

Nadine said...

Dawn -

My heart breaks for you and your family during this time. I pray that God will work on your behalf and put things in right order.

Know that you are in my prayers. I'm honored to be invited to share your world with or with pictures. You are an awesome lady.

Blessings,
Nadine

Izzy, Emmy 'N Alexander said...

Wow, I had no idea hardship had fallen on you and your family. I hope that things resolve themselves quickly and you can your family can get back to things.

A private blog is not a bad thing and I am more than honored to be a part of the invite list. As mentioned above, photos aren't everything. Your words are more than enough to keep me coming back for more.

You and your entire family are in my thoughts.

Also, I have missed reading K's blog. Do you know if she is accepting any new readers by invite?

Have a great weekend!

Jess said...

I'm very sorry that you have had to do this, but I am very glad that you thought you needed us...because you know we all love you and need you! I hope that things do get better....Have a good weekend

Hootin Anni said...

My dear Dawn....I just KNOW you've done the right thing for yourself and all that is involved. We must make these choices in our lifetime, and like I told you in an email early this morning...I completely understand your move!!!

Sending you virtual and GIANT comforting hugs. I did a prescheduled show n tell way back on Wednesday 'cause I didn't know if we'd have power or not...LOL

Talk about addiction?!!!

Thanks again for the invite.

SentimentsbyDenise said...

I'm glad for your blog, as I love the connection I made with you over a year ago when I read "between the lines" and figured out that you and I are from the same church denomination.
I'm sorry that your family is dealing with all of this right now - but please know that your friends in the blogging community are praying for the Lord to use this for good. And you know He will...it's just hard for us to see right now.
Bless you, dear friend!
Denise

Sam said...

Hi Dawn,
Well, I'm just so glad you're back. You would have been really missed around here.

How nice that you and your sister are so close. I have one sister and we talk almost every day. The sister bond is incredible and I feel so lucky to have it. I'm sure your sister loved the framed photos. They're beautiful.

Praying for you and Kristen as you all navigate all the changes.

Robin said...

I'm so sorry Dawn that you have had to put some limitations on your blog. But I am so happy to see you back again - even if it is a private party!

Nancy said...

It's so good to have you back and please know that you and your family still have my prayer support. That is one thing that I love about blogging too and I know that God has nudged me to several blogs at just the right time... when they needed prayer the most.

I love the photos of you and your sister. It reminds me of me and my older sister. Such precious memories!

I hope you have a great weekend and know that I'm just an email away if you need private prayers. (That will be true as soon as I get my Mac up and running. I've lost so many emails in this most recent crash... and all of my addresses. Thanks for being patient with me.)

nancygrayce said...

Happy birthday to your sister! I know your surprise was a great present in itself!

Barb said...

I'm glad you found a way to continue blogging, Dawn. It really does become an important thing in our lives, even when we can't devote as much time to it as we were once able to.

It's a shame this happened, but maybe someday down the road, the photos won't be an issue.

nannykim said...

I am saddened that you are going through a tough time. I have been praying for you. Glad you figured a way to keep blogging!! (I will miss the pics!)

Unknown said...

Thank you for letting me be a part of your private blog. I'm glad you went this route instead of giving up blogging completely.

I love the fact that you are close in age to your sister and also have a close relationship. I hope my children have close relationships as well. My sister and I have never been super close, probably due to our 5 year age difference, but as of yesterday, I have made it a goal to talk with her everyday. It's time we strengthen our relationship.

Hope you're having a fun weekend!

Carole Burant said...

Dearest Dawn,

Happy Belated Birthday to your sister...such precious pictures of the two of you:-) I'm sorry I'm a bit late visiting...now that your new posts don't show up on my Bloglines, I was forgetting to check if you had posted or not! lol I'll have to make sure to visit every day no matter what:-)

Like you, blogging has become such a part of my life and the friendships I have made make me feel so blessed. Yes, sometimes it can become overwhelming and we tend to spend way too many hours trying to visit everyone but it's all worth it:-) I had to learn to not be so hard on myself if I couldn't visit everyone in one day...with over 100 blogs to read, it became impossible. I'm glad you decided to continue blogging and if it has to be a private blog, then so be it! I can just imagine, though, how heartsick you are about having deleted all your pictures of the twins:-(

Take good care of YOU and hope you're having a wonderful weekend. xoxo

Sharon Lynne said...

Hi Dawn,

I'm glad you're up and running again. How nice to have a sister so close in age. I'm glad you have been good friends over the years. That is a blessing.

And such a blessing to have four beautiful grand daughters, a loyal husband, a wonderful daughter, and 22 comments on your blog!

groovyoldlady said...

I'm so glad that I am part of your inner circle!

I prayed and prayed for 3 weeks before responding to the seemingly hostile comments by "someone" on my blog. Dawn. God is doing a miracle.

Not only will I be seeing my grandkids soon (and hopefully regularly), but several misunderstandings have been cleared up AND she has actually ASKED me to give Scout her phone number so he can contact her and the kids.

"God wants to work the miraclous out of the ridiculous."

I am praying that, in His time, He will do some relational miracles for you and Kristen too.

Susie said...

Hi Dawn,
I know how bad you must feel to lose your pictures, but I'm so glad you decided to persevere and continue with blogging privately.
Loved seeing the photos of you and your sister. I always wanted a sister but that didn't happen. (till my brothers got married!)
You were such cuties..
The friendships and support we have through blogging is the very best part.
I hope you can feel the love of all your blogging friends supporting you right now!
xoxo

Midlife Mom said...

I agree with everything Susie said! I too hope you can feel the love from us out here in Bloggsville! There has been such a connection with you and your family. I think partially because we all went through the hard times with the twins before they were born and then the miracle that God gave you by making them perfect! What a joyous day that was! I hope Kristen knows that we care for her too and will prayerfully support her and the girls! Love to you all!!

Tammy said...

Dawn, you said so well the reasons I blog as well...sometimes I feel it's too consuming, but saying good bye to it forever would be so hard since I've forged so many friendships...along with it being an outlet for writing for me, as well.

I just love the pictures of you and your sister...both photos are absolutely adorable.

Hugs to you dear friend,
~Tammy