I found my sisters at BlogHer

A sister is a gift to the heart, a friend to the spirit, a golden thread to the meaning of life. – Isadora James

My parents only gave me one sister. I love them for that. She looks at me and knows what I’m thinking before the words even come out of my mouth.

But I have other sisters too. I just didn’t know it until I went to Blogher this year.

Some of my sisters: Amy (@resourcefulmom), Janine (@twincident) & Shannan (@slpowell)

Granted I missed out on the sessions but I made a lot of new contacts, networked until my feet swelled up and the thought of walking one more step hurt me deeply, but I also found family I never knew I had.

You see, I’ve been in the blogosphere since 2006 when Peanut arrived. At first I wanted to be a serious writer, only telling stories that made a difference in people’s lives. I wanted to report news. But the news sucks.  Seriously and I hate politics so that was out. Though I still work and blog with a handful of freelance writers, I slowly found myself moving into the mom space. Which is fine, since I’ve birthed four babies, wiped butts, and either been nursing or pregnant for nearly 10 years (Kudos to Chrissy for doing the math on that for me. As if it wasn’t depressing enough…)

Anyway, when I moved into the mom space, I found that there were already a number of mom bloggers out there. Who like me, didn’t fit the “mom blog” role perfectly. Over the last three years, I’ve bonded with them through our blogs, our IMs, our tweets, and even phone conversations. Some of these moms I’ve been talking, chatting and blogging with for almost three years and some have been recent, within the last year, but when I stepped into the Sheraton on Thursday evening, time didn’t even matter. It was irrelevant.

Is solace anywhere more comforting than in the arms of a sister. – Alice Walker

Within minutes of dropping my luggage and checking out the hotel I connected with so many people who knew me, or didn’t know me. Who knew my blog, or just loved the name of the blog. It didn’t matter. We were connected for our love of the stories we told and shared with other moms and people all over the globe.

Then there were the people who have helped me make it through some really emotional things. I feel like if I call out these gals by name I will be doing a disservice to those whom I’ve just met or maybe I haven’t been so candid with since my introduction to blogging so the only thing I can do is sit here, and wish all of them a huge THANK YOU.

Sisters function as safety nets in a chaotic world simply by being there for each other. – Carol Saline

I know, you’re wondering why right? OK… let me explain, it’s like you’re living in a world where almost no one speaks the same language as you. Some hubbies’ eyes glaze over after 20 minutes of talking about your blog, posts from other bloggers, and the drama that can ensue around them, or there might be friends, families, spouses who don’t understand why you do what you’re doing if you’re not making any money from it, and then there are the moms on the playground who still don’t know what blogging is, so you barely speak at all because again… there’s a language barrier between you.

Then suddenly you’re transported to a new world. They don’t look like you or sound like you but you all speak the same language. You are suddenly among sisters; family that you never knew existed or maybe you did but not to this degree. You can talk coding, breaking your blog (BTDT, many, many times), headers, logos, designs, optimization, you name it, they are talking about it. It’s overwhelming, mind blowing and boggling and yet, it’s calming, refreshing and exhilerating to know that you are not alone. I didn’t need sessions to feel that. It was there as I listened to other bloggers speak to each other and as they spoke to me.

But again, back to the sisters…

I can’t tell you what it means to have walked with women who have only known you by the words on your blog, or the IMs, social network updates and tweets. Who have only seen you through your avatar or a vlog. I can’t tell you because you simply have to experience it for yourself. You can’t imagine getting a hug that you’ve waited almost three years for or to sit and have a late dinner with someone you’ve wanted to actually “talk” to for months until you’ve felt their arms embrace you and you know that they are real or you stare at them across the table because you can’t believe you are REALLY SITTING THERE. You hug endlessly, you try to store every minute of giggling, talking and sharing into your memory because you don’t know when you will get the chance to see them again.

It’s surreal. It’s like being on the edge of fantasy and reality.

I shed my momness at the door and let my sisters see the person they’ve tweeted with, blogged beside, and worked alongside these past few years. I was scared that my sisters would meet me and think I’m more of a certifiable nut in person than I am online, that I would ramble or talk to much or that I would get quiet and shy and not talk enough.

But they didn’t think any of those things. They loved me. Just me. And I loved them back.

I have more after BlogHer posts coming up but for now I just want to reflect on finding my family and the impact they’ve made on my life so far and the impact I know they are going to continue to make on me.

For my sisters who haven’t known me all that long or BlogHer was your first introduction to me, I swear I’m not normally not this sappy (OK. That’s a lie. I am). But I promise you won’t regret knowing me.

For my sisters who have become a lifeline for me over the past couple of years, and are making it hard for me to write this through my tears of missing you already, thank you. You know what you’ve done, and even though words on a screen seem to pale in comparison for the hugs I want to give you, this is all I can offer until we see each other again.

Bless you, my darling, and remember you are always in the heart – oh tucked so close there is no chance of escape – of your sister. – Katherine Mansfield

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Related posts:

1. Guess What? I’m going to BlogHer!
2. Revealing my Secret as a Lifetime Mom
3. Fabulous Finds from BlogHer ‘09