Letters From a Single Mom

This is a bittersweet day for me. Bitter because it is just another reminder of how long I have been struggling through this unwanted transition. By the time I created this blog on April 17, 2014 I had already been struggling with the major transition in life resulting from this unwanted divorce for just over 6 months and now on the 1 year anniversary of the blog I am still in the middle of trying to get through. Despite the passage of time it still feels like it’s only been a few weeks. I didn’t want this divorce. I didn’t want to become a single mother and I certainly didn’t want to lose half of my time with my son but since I have no choice in the matter and I am not in denial about what is happening or going to happen I don’t want to be stuck in limbo any longer than necessary.

It’s a sweet day because despite there being a few times where I didn’t think I would make it to this milestone in my blog here I am! Not only have I made it this far, but I was able to meet my own personal goal of writing an average of 1 entry per week. Not only did I meet it, but I actually beat it by 2 entries (not including this one) for a total of 54 entries over the past year! I was also (pleasantly) surprised and even honored when other people not only started to read some of my entries, but decided to follow my blog! I couldn’t believe it. A blog that I started for myself, a simple, measly little nobody with nothing very important to say and not only were other people reading it, but they were “signing up” to regularly follow the things that I would be writing in the future! I did not then and I do not now have the words to express just how much that meant to me, In this past year 25 people have decided to follow my blog and I can not say thank you enough to each and every one of you. It really does mean more to me than you know.

As if other people reading what I was writing was not exciting and surprising enough you can probably imagine how shocked I was when people from other countries started to read my blog! Again, a person of no consequence and still people from other countries were choosing to read what I was writing! I wasn’t sure how many countries would show up when I was checking my All Time Stats for my anniversary and was almost in disbelief when I saw that there were 17 countries (18 if European Union counts as a country and it seems to on the WP Countries list) on my All Time Stats page! It just doesn’t seem real! (I have posted a picture of the map as well as other 1 year Anniversary Stats at the end of this entry to commemorate this milestone. I hope you’ll check them out.)

Knowing that this anniversary was coming up and knowing that I wanted to do something more special than just writing an entry I asked my friend Kamria if she had any ideas on what I could do. After brainstorming some ideas with her I started talking to the few people who I feel know me really well (excluding my parents) and asking them to tell me what came to mind when they thought about me. I had expected to get responses like movies, knitting, geeky and so on, but instead I got far more serious answers and ones that actually made me feel bad for asking. I actually started to worry that the people I asked would think I was fishing for compliments. The answers that I got meant a lot to me and despite causing some private embarrassment meant the world to me. Last night I took their responses, started looking for images online and created a collage. It may never be used for anything other than this blog entry, but it would be fun if I could eventually do something more. (Maybe, if I ever have enough extra money, I can have it printed on some canvas so I can hang it on a wall in my apartment so that I can see it everyday, but that is unlikely to be possible any time soon.)

Thank you to all my friends out there who contributed to the collage. Your responses really have meant a lot to me and so will the collage that came together as a result.

Thank you to everyone who, even in the smallest way, was part of what my blog has become over the last year. When I started out my hope was that I would use this blog for years and years to come and now because of all of your interest, support and encouragement I am even more excited to see how this blog can grow and what it can become in the future. Thank you to anyone who may be reading my blog for the first time. If you like what you have read so far I hope that you read some more and even consider following my blog moving forward. As always I would love to hear any thoughts, questions or even suggestions on things to do or add in the future that you might have.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for making this anniversary as sweet and surprising as it has been. I could not have done it without you!