Why a blog?
Why, in the Good Lord’s name, would I start a blog at my age?
Well, truth be told, that was never my intent. My intent was to actually write a book of anecdotes and reflections. For years, people I’ve met along the way, who’ve heard me tell stories, and who’ve been impacted by my work on behalf of the disabled, have told me I should write a memoir. So, a few months ago, I rolled up my sleeves and set out to do just that.
But along the way, things started to change. I began to develop even more physical difficulties than I’d had before, and began, much to my chagrin, to lose all practical use of much of my upper body, including both hands.
I realized as well that a book is anything but an overnight process. As a first-time author, it might have taken me a full year to create a first draft and to then get the thing edited, published and distributed. So, my friend, M.C. Antil, who I had asked to help me with my book, eventually suggested I simply create a personal blog and that I use it as a platform to post one or two items per week. That would allow anyone interested to read, watch, or listen to the very stories and songs that would have served as the bulk of my memoir anyway, and to then comment on them in real time and to do so to a full community of readers.
A blog, M.C. told me, would do two other things as well.
First, it would allow others to tell stories about my impact on their lives, and to do so without having to sound gauche by either self-aggrandizing or beating my own chest.
And secondly, he said, and especially as word spread, it would put me back in touch with so many of those I’ve come to know and love over the years, but with whom, sadly, I’ve fallen out of touch – especially in these crazy times of ours, these times of isolation, self-quarantine and social distancing.
Call it Love in the Time of Corona-virus.
So, please my friends, enjoy this blog and understand that once I get enough items posted and edited, I still may collect, rearrange and transform them into a manuscript. There still, in other words, may be a book in my future.
As I said, enjoy. What’s more, I urge any and all of you to comment or reach out as you see fit, especially if you have a story you’d like to share. I now have someone who will help you tell it – and, what’s more, he and I promise to do all the heavy lifting for you.
As we Irish are wont to say…May the road rise to meet you, may the sun shine warm on your face, may the wind be always at your back, and may you be in heaven a half hour before the devil knows you’re dead!
October 1, 2020