This is my 120th published blog post! I was going to do a little bit of a recap for my 100th post, but by the time I thought to myself, ‘Hey, I should do something to commemorate my 100th post.’ and looked it up to see how far I had to go, I was at 103. Oops. Missing the timing on that one. But it’s ok. That just put me into place to get ready for…..Drumroll please…. the Diamond Dozen! That’s right. A whole 120 published blog posts. And it’s been a long time coming too.
I first created my blog almost seven years ago. My anniversary is right around the corner. I published my very first post on 5 March 2019. That was just about a month before I had major surgery. It was supposed to be somewhat prophylactic in the sense that I had already been diagnosed with breast cancer in 2013 and had chemo, had breast surgery and radiation. As of 5 March 2019, as far as we knew I was in the clear. I had had a 3D mammogram just a couple of months prior and it had come back clear. But I had never had reconstruction done. While trying to make decisions about that I felt that I should go ahead and have the double mastectomy done. A surgery made more complicated but my prior radiation. I had to have a skin graph with ‘blood flow’. Long story shorter, I have a probably 14 inch scar on my back where they took skin and muscle to put in place of the damaged skin. This strangely enough, probably saved my life. Because on the other side, where I didn’t have damaged skin, they created a ‘pocket’ to hold the insert and I developed a infection from the material they used (which they think I was allergic to) to create the pocket and went septic on that side. Had it have been on both sides, I might not have lived to tell the tale. But as a result of the sepsis, followed by months of fighting the infection and exhaustion on top of my other health issues really slowed things down for me for quite some time.
I actually got my 10th post done and published before I actually went into surgery. It was called Finding Focus In My ADHD World. I had been making pretty good ground up to that point. Especially for someone who didn’t have the slightest clue in the world what she was doing. To this day, I don’t think anyone other than myself has actually read them. That might be a good thing though, lol. They might be pretty bad. I don’t even think those ones have images or anything. Probably short and awkward too.
My most viewed post of all time was my 15th post. Also published before I went in for surgery. That one is called, Not The Whole World, Just Three Of Them. It’s where I talked about the movie The Core and considered the concept that if each one of us adapted the mindset of just helping, just saving, three people, together, we could change the world.
Less than six weeks after I got out of the hospital, the dad of my heart, The Mentor, passed away after fighting diabetes, kidney disease and a rare form of muscular dystrophy for a number of years. He was the best man I have ever known. I couldn’t have asked for a more loving, father like mentor. He had been a teacher by more than just profession. It was a true calling on his life. He was an incredible person and I am so blessed to have known and been loved by him. He was my Dad. I miss him every day. He loved the Lord so much and it showed.
Later that summer, my first grandchild was born. A baby girl. The Zoologist. She’s growing up faster than I care to think. She seems to love animals of all sorts and lately has been the most enamored with those little salamanders, axolotls I think they are called. Honestly, I had never even heard of them before that.
I wrote my 25th post not too long after my granddaughter was born. I called it, Today Is The Day. That was the last day I had to go to the doctor to get my expanders filled, before allowing my body some time to adapt prior to the next surgery.
The year of insanity, also known as 2020, brought with it the death of my father in law, one of our daughters moving out of the country and for me, some much needed rest in a way. Since I couldn’t wear a mask and my doctors offices wouldn’t let me in without one, I just didn’t go to a doctor at all that year. It wasn’t a huge loss. They weren’t much help anyway. They don’t know anything about Type 2 Inflammation, or at least they didn’t then.
I didn’t make it to my 50th post until 26 July 2021. I was inspired to write that one following the replacing of my old Bible that was starting to fall apart with one that had larger font. Because I hate wearing my glasses. I tried to avoid it at all costs. That blog post is called, Beautifully Broken. That year we also lost our precious little fur baby Zorro after several months of non resolving health issues.
During part of this time, off and on, I continued working on a non fiction book that I am writing on my grief journey. I started it after the loss of our daughter and am still trying to finish it even now. My biggest struggle is not with quantity of content, but rather how I want it all organized to make it the most functional for those who are struggling with grief.
2022 brought with it my first grandson. Our little Dino-Mite. I bet you can’t guess what he’s into lol. He’s a little ray of sunshine in a bundle of dynamite. He was actually born overseas.(Our son in law is a military man.)
I also worked on a couple fiction books that are in various stages of development during this time. I’m still working on them now, but at a slower rate while I spend more time developing my website. One is a supernatural romance and the other is more of a thriller, but now like a lot of thrillers out there. Oh, if I can just get this one out of my head guys, it’s gonna be good. I can’t wait to read it.
We were more than ready for 2025 to come to a close. It was a full year. On the bright side, our second grandson was born. I am telling you, that one, he is a spitting image of his daddy. Wow. But the hard side of the year was more than a tough one. My husbands best friend passed not long after the new year. On Easter we said goodbye to my grandfather. Then just a few weeks later a dear uncle also went Home to the Lord. Not too long after that my mother in law also passed on. And most of the families lost their freaking MINDS. I will just leave that there for the time being.
My 86th blog post was my welcoming post to the new website. melseeley.com. That was just this last August. Clearly I got kind of sidetracked there for awhile.
The time for my 100th post came and I didn’t even realize it. Because instead I was writing, Grieving During The Holidays. By the time I started to think about a 100th post, the new year had come and gone and my opportunity along with it.
But since the new year, I have been faithfully plucking along, working hard on getting all of my ducks in a row and here I am today, writing my 120th post. My Diamond Dozen. So thankful to have made it this far and excited for the days to come. If you have hung out with me all the way through this reminiscence, I thank you. It was a lot. I mean, not on my end. On my end, that was like the one image comic strip version. But on yours, I’m sure it seemed a lot longer. So thank you. May God bless you and keep you my friends.
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Image by Mel Seeley in collaboration with Google Gemini
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