A Virtual Connection

When I found out I was pregnant, my husband and I immediately told everyone. Our families. Our friends. Our work colleagues and neighbors. We even told the dry cleaning lady. Also, I shared the news on my blog.

People warned us, "Be quiet." They were afraid I'd have a miscarriage and then what?

But I knew if the pregnancy ended I would want to talk about that, too, so I didn't feel the need to keep it a secret.

At eight weeks my morning sickness disappeared. At nine weeks and six days I started bleeding. The day after the sonogram technician confirmed the baby was no longer developing, I posted a message about the miscarriage on my blog. What happened next was nothing short of amazing.

And so begins a piece I wrote for Ohio Valley Parent magazine (you can read the whole article here). The article talks about how women are able to maintain friendships thanks to the Internet.

In fact, the editor of OV Parent, Betsy Bethel-McFarland, is a friend of mine from college. Last week she was traveling through Maryland for a bagpipe competition (her band won first place), so she stopped by and we gave each other a huge, looooong hug, I met her baby girl, and we got to spend an hour or so catching up. I'd like to think we'd have stayed in touch without the Net, but the truth is e-mail has played a BIG role in keeping us connected.

I've also been able to "keep in touch" with Michelle, Carrie, and Terry -- three wonderful women who I met at a writer's workshop and who let me use part of their stories in the article. Thanks girls!

P.S. The writer's workshop we met at was run by Jennifer Lauck and Jennifer is holding more this summer for those searching for peace, healing, wholeness...well, I'll let her explain it: click here.