600th

Today is my 600th post. Are you still with me?

I am not sure what else I have done 600 times, in a somewhat regular, predictable way. Writing each day adds up quicker than I had imagined it would. Spewing my random thoughts into cyberspace almost every day feels like a mental taking out of the garbage some days. Other days it is my personal newspaper column, radio talk-show, and TV special.

Some days I have soapbox items to cover with you, thoughts with which I would try to impress you, or personal insights and feelings I need to release and or make peace. You have weathered them all.

While I write, generally as my own personal journaling exercise, I also write so that my mom, specifically, and other loved ones far away will have a glimpse into what is going on in my life, and with my family. I am not one of these daughters who is on the phone every day with my mom, though I should be better than every two weeks. This blog has been that kind of link on a more regular basis.

For the rest of you, dear friends, neighbors and volunteer colleagues, what are you doing here again? For you, I hope this has been a place to stop for a minute and discover a new reason to smile each day, or another moment of gratitude wherein you tell yourself, "At least I don't have to deal with THAT."

There are some of you who will leave a comment with your take on something I have written. Those make my day, and I appreciate them all. I am especially grateful for the responses that encourage me to keep going, try a little harder, or push me to do better than I have let myself in the past. Those comments are treasures.

So, whether you are related to me biologically or geographically, leave comments or not, read regularly or sporadically, I thank you. Six hundred is quite an accomplishment, but it is still only a number. Like my age or the weight on my driver's license.

Come on back tomorrow. I'll still be here. Thanks to you.