Five years ago, a reader found my blog quite by chance during an extraordinarily dark time in her life. She had no real interest in the restaurant world, but my stories about customer and co-worker antics, she said, made her laugh at 2 a.m. when she couldn’t sleep. That laughter, she noted, was the start of her healing.
“I don’t know if you remember me,” began her recent her email. Not remember her? I had never forgotten her and often wondered how she was doing. Now, five years later, she wanted to share the news about the recent birth of her beautiful baby girl, and how her life has moved forward.
I was stunned and touched.
Suddenly, other readers were emailing me as well. “Are you okay?” “I am slightly worried, but hope all is well.” “Just want to know that you’re still there. We readers will wait patiently for you.”
Again, I was surprised and touched. I am indeed fine. Busy with my event planning work and three mutts, for sure, but that’s not really a reason for not writing. The truth is, every time I start a post about a bride gone bad or a groom gone good, I inwardly groan. “Nothing new to see here! Move along.”
And so RG silently languishes in a noisy arena that is over-populated by so much more media than ever existed when I started writing this blog. Now and then, however, that silence taps me on the shoulder and asks, “You’re not done with this, are you?”
Am I?
I was clearing a random spam comment on the RG site today, then decided to have a good laugh and check my stats over the past few months, when I noticed a spike in readership on various dates. One of my favorite blogs, and one that gave RG some lovely recognition, is no more. South Florida Daily Blog, it appears, has closed up shop–back in March, no less.
SFDB’s last post starts:
“One of my pet peeves about blogging was bloggers who closed up shop without any explanation, leaving their readers wondering what happened.
This post is about not being one of those bloggers.”
Hmm.
Which makes this a post about realizing that I must seem like “one of those bloggers.” About letting my readers know that although I’m still here, I am unsure about what to do with RG. It is about wanting to write, but not knowing how to write anything remotely fresh above the online din.
It is also about my sincere appreciation for each and every reader who has ever glanced at RG. Thank you.
No goodbyes, okay?
Comments
23 responses to “No Goodbyes”
*hugs* i’ll see you tomorrow, sugar…whenever that is! xoxoxo
You may think that there is nothing to see here about a bride gone bad or a groom gone good, but I don’t deal with that every day like you do and I for one would very much like to hear about people’s lives from your perspective.
Agree with Bob! Also, no one does it your voice, which is always unique and entertaining.
Savannah–Hugs back attacha.
Bob–Thanks. I’m always mulling over ideas, so we’ll see what I come up with, even if it takes a few more months.
Connie–And thank you, too.
Hey RG. Boy, do I know where you’re coming from. Glad to hear you are still upright and breathing!
Hi RG,
I check back often so it was a delight to hear from you again. I’ll keep reading whenever you decide to keep writing.
Sarah
Ex-RM–I know you know, and I am glad to hear from you!
Sarah–Thanks for hanging in, Sarah. Will do my best to make the visit worthwhile, hopefully soon.
Please be assured that it is your voice, and your adventures, that keep us checking back from time to time to see what you’ve experienced. The presence or absence of other “online din” does not affect how you’ve experienced your life. I, for one, will be looking forward to whatever you can find the time to share. Thanks for all your past writing.
Robert–What a nice comment. Hoping to find time soon.
Please don’t go. Your posts brighten my days and yes make me smile. Please keep the stories coming. You have a great talent!
and look at you… nothing to write, and still.. kapow. you did it. =) miss you as always.. hard to believe my littlest one, who you met when he was days old… is now five… almost six. I’m with Savanah… see you tomorrow.. whenever =)
I’m with
The art of writing can sometimes by to write something interesting about nothing. Hey, and look at Seinfeld. The reruns are still going strong over a decade since it’s been off the air. And that was a show that revolved around nothing, but it was so interesting and fun to watch.
RG, I’m delighted every time I find new content here. I hope you find your muse and let us enjoy your wonderful writing again.
Marie–So many thanks.
Jenni–Oh my gosh, do I wonder about you and your beautiful family. I know all is well. I just wish I could share it with you in person again.
Laurie–I can write about nothing. 🙂 Thank you.
Art–Thank you. And yes, I am reaching out big time to that muse. A story that has nothing to do with work just occurred a few hours ago. Now, to craft that….
RG what you don’t understand is that the beauty of your writing is that you take the everyday (the nothing new ) and present in a new way through your eyes I sincerly hope you don’t stop I love to read your writung
RG — I haven’t commented much since your move to FL, but I still lurk quietly. It’s nice to know that all is ok. I’ll keep lurking. 🙂
You can write about going to the corner store for a carton of milk and it will be good to read. While you feel there might be nothing much different, you have to remember most people who read your blog don’t live in Florida and don’t have anything to do with restaurants or brides or grooms. You write well about a life we don’t lead – and that makes great reading.
You also have to realise that most of us cannot recall every blog post you’ve written, so even if you repeat some of the themes, they’ll still seem fresh to us 😉
Wishing you all the best, whether you write more or not 🙂
RGal….I have followed your blogs for years. Never posted I don’t think, but always enjoyed your musings. All about how living in “paradise” is far different than visiting, right?
I hope you’ll find a moment to check in with us now and then.
A fan for some time.
Cathi
That’s OK, we still like to hear the same stories of brides gone bad. They are from a different viewpoint, and still seem like new stories to us.
Online din be damned – you are the only one who can tell your stories. Your voice is missed.
So glad you’re still around kicking and rocking. It’s unique when I find a blog that genuinely leaves me wondering about the writer’s life and how they are from time to time – and wishing them the best even if they are not writing fantastic stories from the heart. Your blog is one of those RG and I was delighted to see this post and hear things are going well. Much love from Colorado!
Just wondering if you have still kept in contact with “Kevin”… ? You last missive regarding him was so poignantly written that it has stayed in the back of my mind since the first time I read it… I just re-read it and it still hit me hard.
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Restaurant Gal