I've read tons of blog entries... commented on a few... but learned a lot from all of them! One of the things I had to decide when I was thinking about blogging, was names. Would I use our 'real' names or not? I struggled a lot with this issue.
When our son was sick with neuroblastoma, I think someone came in the room at the hospital and offered to help us start a Caringbridge site. At the time, I'd never even heard of one, and the idea of putting all our daily lives 'out there' especially during *this* was beyond me. (kinda funny when I think about that now!) But, I also knew I didn't want our story to become bigger than life and strangers saying and doing things... that just seemed odd to me. We still had issues with this, though. I set up an email list and sent updates that way. And of course, those got forwarded all over creation. There were several incidents that I would have preferred not happened. Nothing bad. Just not what I would of wanted and yet it was out of my control.
So back to the present and my blog... I had to decide if I wanted to put our real names out there. I finally decided after seeing more than one that did NOT put their stuff 'out there' that it could be done without it! So that's what I've opted to do.
Obviously I'm still telling our story and there is personal info here, and if someone who knows me read this, it wouldn't take long to connect the dots, but I still feel.. umm... safer ??? for lack of a better word, for keeping it this way. The names I've chosen are still somehow connected to us. I call our daughter "Boo"... we've called her that periodically all her life, starting when she was a baby and learning to play Peek-A-Boo. So that is a natural outpouring of who she is. Not just something made up. And the same with Bubba. I know that name has a redneck quality to it and sometimes I kinda laugh about that. It evolved to Bubba because when he was born, Boo couldn't say his real name. So we called him Brother and that evolved to Brudder and then on and on to Bubba or Bub.
I guess there really isn't much of a point to this other than the need to explain some things.
2 comments:
I felt the same reservations about Katie's CB site. She was 11 years old when she was diagnosed, and her friends (and, it seemed, our entire community) read the updates. I withheld details to preserve her privacy, and I still do, now, sharing memories. Other moms handle it very differently, are totally open about bodily functions and despair and so on. I think it's individual, as I have benefited and grown from what they have chosen to share...but I know Katie, and she would have hated the exposure. You are right to follow your heart. God bless you!
Thank you so much for stopping by my blog. I was so sorry to hear that you, too, have lost a son to cancer. My prayers are with you!
Post a Comment