Yes, I'm the lady whom many of you have been bashing because of my "Different" post and I want to say one thing here: HOW DARE you suggest I know nothing of a sisterhood? You know nothing, Jane Snow. I have become involved in a sisterhood that i pray none of you ever experience but yet is one that both breaks and uplifts my heart in a way I hope you will never know. You see, my beautiful son, a grown man in his 40's, is dying of ALS, Lou Gerhig's disease. All mother's are bound to a sisterhood of their love of their children and the ultimate fear of losing a child. The outpouring I have received from friends long forgotten, relatives from distant places, colleagues from jobs ages ago, friends of my son and daughter, even strangers who stop and help me when I struggle with my son's wheelchair. I can see their hearts in their eyes and their amazing strength in their embraces of me and my son.
Of course men have been important in helping my son and I but their help is different: they offer humor to help us forget; they build ramps and reshape bathrooms to make my son's life a bit better; they share his interests in sports - and the ladies; they have the strength to carry him where his wheelchair won't go. But the ladies know better how to respond to the pain my daughter-in-law, my daughter, and I are trying to live with, that sometimes the only helpful thing is a good cry and an understanding shoulder to have it on.
I will plead guilty to having used sex blogging to push my professional status, but it has become more than that: it is a way for me to forget what is happening in my personal life and to find some pleasure in quiet times. I am also guilty of trying to bring a fraction of my followers from Tumblr to a different experience with me; but I have written openly on Tumblr about my son's condition and have many followers express seemingly heartfelt condolences and I want them to know where our life is going. Lastly I will apologize for being a bit judgmental about some of you being too judgmental: I didn't like what seemed to me a constant "guilty until proven innocent" attitude toward anyone new or challenging to your LPSG universe. Perhaps I overreacted.
And, perhaps, you did, too.
Marti