There are lots of websites that offer advice for people with blogs. Among the most common recommendations are these: Choose a niche and stick closely to it in your writing and also have a plan that you follow at least loosely. Today I’m going to break both of these rules a bit.
This is the last Monday of the year. Back in January I stated that my goal was to stay true to my Monday Dreaming meme and have a post for every Monday in 2010. With this post I have achieved that goal. To celebrate, I had planned to offer you a survey of my favorite Monday Dreaming posts from the past 51 weeks. In fact, my plan was to devote this entire week to the best of the Mother of All Trips from 2010, offering a look back at the places I went, the advice I offered, the food I ate, and the photos I took. An extravaganza of family travel as it were.
I may still do this, or I may not. You see, many plans have gone out the window for me in the past week. Last Monday I spent the day speeding through New England to my beloved Vermont. But the journey was different than the many similar ones I’ve described here. I was alone and I was headed for the hospital where my father lay gravely ill.
My drive was successful and I made it to my father’s side while he could still recognize that I was there. But on Thursday, after a valiant 14-month struggle with cancer, his body finally gave out on him. He left us in a small room overlooking Lake Champlain and a cold and snowy twilight, the kind he loved.
This post is not a proper tribute to my father. That will come later, when I’ve had time to reflect and gather my thoughts as well as some photos. But I will say that although I did not travel very often in my father’s company – unlike me, he wasn’t much of one for traveling with kids, truth be told – I must credit him with showing me the way to becoming who I am today. I know of few people more intrepid than he. To describe every place he traveled to would take many, many posts. He visited every state in the United States (and quite possibly all the Canadian provinces), climbed numerous mountains including Mount Kilimanjaro, trekked in Nepal, went on safari in South Africa…the list goes on and on. The only continent he didn’t make it to was Antarctica. And everywhere he went he asked questions, explored, and ate, oh did he eat. Most of the things that I know about food and dining out and cooking come from him.
So my Monday Dream this week has me looking forward to a new life in 2011, one without my father around to inspire me. I already miss him terribly. But I also know that he wouldn’t want me to stop striving or achieving – or traveling, certainly not that! – simply because he is no longer here. My father was tough and he worked hard and he expected nothing less than toughness and hard work from those he loved. I know that he would be happy to see me do what I set out to do so many months ago. I know he would be proud that I wrote all the posts I wanted to write. And I know he would want me to stick to my plans, especially if those plans involve showing Tommy and Teddy more of that same amazing planet he had to leave too soon. So here’s to dreaming of even more travel with my boys in 2011 and even more blogging about it here.
What is your end-of-year dream? Please feel free to share it below.
Mara, my heart goes out to you this week. It sounds like you and your dad certainly shared that spirit of adventure and travel. It has always been a treat to read your posts this year, and even though bittersweet, you made your goal. Take a deep breath.
If I could, I would reach out and give you a huge hug right now. But you’ll have to settle for this: I’m thinking of you, friend, and sending you my deepest sympathies. I wish losing our (inspiring) dads to cancer wasn’t another bond we now share. All my best!
Mara, you are in my thoughts this week; your dad sounds like an amazing person. I send you my sympathies in this sad time.
Mara, I’m looking forward to learning more about your dad in future posts. He sounds like such an amazing person.
Congrats on the amazing accomplishment of a Monday Dreaming post each week this year. I had so much fun participating and reading of other’s dreams. Your dad sounds like he was quite a dreamer and doer–a fitting way to honor him, it seems.
Mara, Thanks for this post, although I recognize the pain it took to write such beautiful words. Your blog inspires me to show my son, Ryan, the world. I have read your critiques, perspectives, and recommendations carefully. I look forward to many more in the new year.
Thanks, Rachel
A lovely post, Mara. Have been thinking of you lots in recent days.
xoxoxo
Well said and a beautiful photo, too. Been thinking of you. Will and I lit a candle for your father before Christmas Eve Mass.
Mara-I just wanted to let you know that my thoughts are with you during this time.
My heart goes out to you and your family, Mara. It sounds like your dad had a wonderful life.
What a great accomplishment for you to post Monday Dreams post for the whole year. You are one of my most admired travel blogger and one of the first that I followed. Can’t wait for what you have in store for 2011!
Oh, so sad. I can see just from your photo that he was full of love and life. I wish you all the peace and time you need to spend time with your dad in your heart and mind in the coming weeks and months…Glad to know you were able to make it to see him before he died. My thoughts are with you, Mara.
Thank you for sharing a little bit of your father with us, too. May he continue living through the stories you tell. Sounds like there are many. *Hugs* from California.
My dad’s a huge inspiration to me as a writer, traveler, and yes, especially as an eater. I know how much I’ll miss him, and I can tell how much you already miss yours. I’m so sorry for your loss! And I’m so inspired by your willingness to show up and write even when you’re grieving. It’s the kind of thing that makes a dad proud.
Keep on dreaming!