Why?

I've had a few conversations lately about technology - blogging, twittering / tweeting, social networking sites - that have given me a chance to think about why I blog. I started a little over a year ago as a way to keep track of what I was doing and thinking. I thought it might be interesting to revisit and have a sort of living history of myself. I know I could just as easily write in a journal, but typing is so much easier. And having this hanging out in the blogosphere means that I should always be able to find it, and it's not likely to end up being damaged. The central point I keep coming back to is that I do this for myself. I understand that it gives people the opportunity to know more about me and my experiences, which is a bonus. But really, if nobody ever read this thing, I would keep up with it.

And here's why... My uncle died a little over a year ago. July 21, to be exact. I wrote an entry the next evening. I just revisited that entry tonight. I have been avoiding it since the anniversary of his death, knowing it would likely stir up a lot of emotions. And it did. So, again with tears streaming down my face, but without the whiskey (for now...), I sit here reflecting about why I do what I do, and how I miss my family that have died. I remember visiting my grandma and grandpa's graves once. It took a good three years before I would do it, and I haven't been back. They died in 1996. It's not a lack of respect I don't think. I miss them, and I think about them often. I have awesome and abundant memories of them, as growing up having them in the same town allowed so much interaction. But I have never found comfort at the cemetery. Oddly, I found a great deal of comfort reading that old blog post this evening. So apparently there's more than one reason I blog...