I’m so behind on my emails and attempting to catch up on Twitter. Sounds like a really ridiculous issue to have. However,  today when I finally got through some of my week’s emails I vowed to get better at staying up to date on what’s going on around the social media world that I’ve come to love so much. What prompted this?

It was a What The Hell moment. I read an email about another blogger, one who I wanted to connect with at the Type A Mom Conference that I didn’t make it to. Her name is Anissa and she had a stroke this week. She’s fighting for her young life.

Anissa is in her mid-thirties with a husband and three children….and I can’t imagine. I have been thinking about Anissa since I read the email…and then her husband’s post…and I realized that, once again, there is a uniqueness about social media: it connects us even if we’ve never met.

You don’t need to shake hands with someone to feel connected in the social media world. This holds especially true for bloggers. We’re real people with real, and often chaotic, lives. We sometimes reveal more than we should or, at the very least, more than anyone wants to read.

You nod your head when you read about someone who blogged about eating Cheetos for dinner because their kids were all sick and there was no time for a decent meal. You laugh your ass off when you read about a family that sounds like the trip they saved 10 years for turned out like the Griswold Family Vacation. You cry because someones child is really, really sick and you can relate.

There is this thread…all different colors of thread…that joins people together on the web in good times and bad…

And then there are assholes who say, “You blog because you’re self centered and need everyone to know every little thing about you.”

No, I blog because it’s often therapy … and it’s a way to connect with others who get it. Those who struggle. Those who do laundry at 3am because that’s when they have time. Those who don’t say, “Oh you’re so unhealthy” when you think a frozen Snickers bar is a good “breakfast on the go.”

It’s a way to connect that people who don’t understand the social media world will never quite make peace with. They won’t use Twitter because it’s “a bunch of crap” … they won’t put up a Facebook profile because it’s “juvenile” …  they don’t blog because that’s just “people being self centered and telling the world their business.”

So, tonight I’ve been thinking about Anissa. So many people adore her and the support for her family has been outstanding. If there is one time I want to shove it up the anti-social media people’s asses, it’s now. Here’s this young woman who is fighting for her life and hundreds of people are showing their caring spirit by posting about Anissa, tweeting out support, and just pulling together in case her family needs something. Anything.

Seriously, who prepares for this sort of stuff?

This is one of the most rambling blog posts I’ve written in awhile. Mostly because my head is just filled with a feeling of sadness that this strong, funny,  beautiful, straightforward woman is lying in a hospital bed helpless and at the mercy of a little bit of medical know-how and nature.

We really are given no warning on sudden life changes, are we? It’s amazing what we take for granted.

The Official Caring Bridge Site for Anissa Mayhew