One aspect of the recent sad news has stuck with me. It’s plain that Dee had asked her brother to put out a note in minimal form in the event of… It was typical of Dee not to want to make a fuss, or to have a fuss made, and equally typical that she didn’t want to leave her friends and readers hanging in mid-air. I’m thankful for that.
It does make a journaller or blogger think, though, doesn’t it?
I hate it when a journal (I’ll call ‘em that, you may blog if you wish to) just stops without explanation. I’m not particularly morbid, and I seldom think the worst but even so. It can’t be too hard to find someone willing to post a comment giving readers the bad news, or to say something like: “I’m done with this” or “I’m taking a [long] break” along with some variant of “Thanks for all the fish.”
Seems to me there aren’t any real responsibilities or contractual obligations placed upon the writer in this form. No-one can go on for ever. Life gets in the way one way or another. So a short note, or an instruction to a trusted friend is the least one can do to ease the minds of those who may have become involved with our daily/weekly/periodic ramblings. And if the break is not planned, or the resumption takes longer than a reasonable time, then a short post saying something along the lines of: “I’m still here. I’m ok. I’ll be back. Don’t worry about me” just has to be the decent thing to do.
Dee showed me a lot of things, and I’m grateful for every one of them. The realisation of the need to make provision ‘in the event of’ is by no means the greatest gift she gave, but it’s a pretty darned good one.
