Happy Halloblogoversaween :)

Here's a slightly scary thought: not only is today Halloween, it's also my seven-year blogoversary.  SEVEN.  It's hard for me to realize that this blog has been part of my life for that long. If you had asked me, seven years ago tonight, whether I would still be here seven years later, I probably would have said no. Surely, 16 years after Katie's stillbirth, 13 years post-fertility treatments, now in my 50s, approaching menopause, I would have run out of things to write about by now? 

Apparently not. ;)  Here are a few stats: 

Number of years blogging:  7
Published posts (including this one): 832
Average # of posts per year: 119
Average # of posts per month:  10
Published comments: more than 6,300
Page views (tracked since May 2008):  266,685 
Followers:  146

A lot has changed in the blogosphere these past seven years: many of the bloggers I followed when I first started blogging have disappeared. Some of the absentees, I know, achieved their dream of motherhood and are presumably, understandably busy. Others just vanished (some with explanation, some not) and I wonder what happened to them, whether they achieved their goals and (regardless), whether they are happy today. A handful remain (& I am so happy you're still hanging in there!). 

One big change: when I first started writing here, there were just a few blogs dedicated to living without children after loss &/or infertility. (Most notably, Pamela Jeanne, who is still blogging at Silent Sorority, was already out there with her original blog, Coming2Terms.)  Today, there are a lot more of us in this corner of the ALI community -- and the numbers are continuing to grow.  There's a growing segment of the population that does not and will not have children, for whatever reasons, and increasingly, we are speaking up and writing about our experiences -- about the many reasons why we are living without children, and why it is not necessarily a bad thing (even when it's not the life we once wanted for ourselves). The media & the public are starting to take note, to listen and to learn. Overall, I think that's a good thing.

As always -- thank you all for reading/listening, commenting and just being here.

Blogoversary #6 (2013)
Blogoversary #5 (2012)
Blogoversary #4 (2011)
Blogoversary #3 (2010)
Blogoversary #2 (2009)
Blogoversary #1 (2008)
First post