So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, goodbye. I leave and heave a sigh and say goodbye. Goodbye! —The Sound of Music
Just over three years ago, I was watching American Idol (you know, the good ole days when Simon Cowell was still there), and I was tweeting. Sending random (often snide) comments into the abyss we know as the Internet and hoping someone would respond.
I was new to Twitter then, still learning the ropes, and still wondering why people would want to know what I thought of Paula Abdul’s hideous outfits.
That’s when I started chatting with Erica Ehm. She was stuck in an airport and missing American Idol. I kept her up to date on what was going on, and soon our American Idol chats became weekly.
Then, one day, I got an email from Erica asking if I would be part of her website, this website, a website I read ALL THE TIME! I did a little happy dance and (of course) said yes!
The Yummy Mummy Club (and Erica) made my dreams come true. I had always wanted to write in a space where other people would see my work, and there it was in black and white. Then, something amazing happened. People liked what I was writing, people commented and told me they were going through the same things I was. People told me I had inspired them, and people told me they cried with me, they laughed with me, and they understood me. It was such an amazing feeling.
In my three years with YMC, I have made so many connections. I have met some truly amazing people, and I have made some wonderful friends.
And so it is with a heavy heart that I am announcing that I am moving on. I will take with me some great memories and the knowledge that we will still be in touch thanks to the internet. You can follow me on Twitter @moeturner.
If you know me, then you know I am an emotional jellyfish (as my husband likes to say) and so I take great solitude in this quote from Dr. Suess:
"Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened." —Dr. Seuss
And I will. I am so grateful to have had my start here, to have been able to connect with all of you, and to have met and become friends with many of you. So, I will smile because it happened.
"This is not the end. This is not even the beginning of the end. It is, instead, the end of the beginning" —Winston Churchill.
This too is true. While I am leaving the YMC, I am moving forward, not stopping. I have decided that it’s time to nurture another of my projects that has been neglected far too long.
I started a website called My Functional Family a while back that has taken a backseat for some time, and I think it’s time that I put it front and centre because it is my passion. I am hoping that this project will touch many people and help those who need it.
My Functional Family is a website for blended families and step parents. It’s in it’s infancy right now, but I am hoping with a little TLC it will become a support group, a sounding board, and a trusted friend.
This blog will be live until August 31, so I invite you to leave me comments and tell me where I can find you. I will post until that date, so if there is a topic you would like me to cover, please let me know, and remember to visit me at My Functional Family.
So, while I bid you adieu here, I hope we will meet again.
"May the road rise up to meet you, may the wind be ever at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face and the rain fall softly on your fields. And until we meet again, may God hold you in the hollow of his hand." —Irish Blessing
Have you ever had that moment where your heart stops because you have no idea where your child is?
I remember shopping with Rebecca when she was little and, all of a sudden, she was nowhere to be seen. How did she disappear so fast?? I was frantic trying to find her, and then she poked her head out from the middle of one of the clothes racks. I was so relieved and so upset that I had let her out of my sight.
I remember all of the things that ran through my head in those few minutes that she was missing. Had she been taken, was she lost somewhere and crying, would I ever see her again, how could I be so careless? Where could she possibly be?
Now that we have four children, we find we are very relaxed parents. We don’t gasp and jump up to help every time someone trips and falls, we don’t stress over bee stings or candies that fall on the ground only to be put back in a little mouth. We are still mindful of our children, but maybe a little less easy to freak out.
Yesterday, I freaked out.
We were sitting watching Rebecca’s soccer game with my parents, and we were all pretty focused and cheering her on. When there was a break in play, Rebecca looked over and said “Where’s Siobhan?”
I assumed she was on the bleachers climbing around by Tom. Tom thought she was on the ground behind the bleachers. We both turned to look, and sure enough, she was gone.
Ethan and Tom ran up the hill to the next field and I scanned the area we were in with the same questions running through my head as when Rebecca was “missing.”
Minutes passed like hours as I wondered which direction she had gone in. It was scarier too in this open space where there were cars and roads to consider.
Ethan found her beyond the other hill… in the parking lot. Tom and Ethan were calling her name and finally she jumped out from behind a car and yelled “Here I am!” like she was playing hide and seek.
Have you ever had one of those moments?
Printer-friendly version