Every Blog Has Its Day

Dear Rachel,

This whole blogging thing is a bit ironic. You and I spoke about blogs and blogging just a few months before your death. Neither one of us could see the point of it, really. I mean, some blogs are definitely cool, and a few are actually very informative, but we both wondered what happened to the essentially private nature of journal-writing when that “journal” became accessible to anyone with a computer and an Internet connection. More than that, I think we both felt that, by-and-large, most bloggers just tended to ramble on about things that weren’t really particularly interesting or important.

And now, here I am rambling on, blogging about a person with whom I had only recently agreed that blogs were kind of silly. And who would be interested in this, really, other than family and a few friends?

But I’m going to continue blogging, for now. Right now I need it. It’s how I speak to you, now that I can no longer use a telephone or email, and now that I can’t look forward to your summer and winter visits. I’ve spoken with you pretty much every day—sometimes several times per day—for 24 years. Sadly, I took for granted my ability to do so. It’s a habit I’m not yet ready to give up.

Love,

Dad