Dreamers Cling to Hope, Just Ask My Friend Nicki

This is Nicki and me learning all about being kick ass bloggers. Clearly she was paying better attention.

There are many, many reasons to blog. And we all blog for different reasons. I blog for a whole slew of reasons, however connecting with other bloggers was never one of those reasons. It never even crossed my mind. But, then I did connect with other bloggers (and actually have made some wonderful friends). And they continue to remind me of how powerful the online blogging community can really be and how lucky I am to have met some of these creative, smart, and inspiring people.

I met my friend, Nicki (she's a dreamer, who also blogs here), at the Yahoo! Motherboard Summit in July 2010 and I am positive she will be a friend of mine forever. We were both SV Mom bloggers before it went defunct and are From Left to Write Book Club members, so you can say we run in the same blogging circle (if you're a nerd, like me). More important, we just clicked and made each other laugh really hard (and are both super smart and painfully pretty), so of course we had to be friends, right?

Thanks to the wonders of the internet, e-mail chats, social media tools, and our respective blogs, we've stayed up-to-date on each other's lives. I'm thankful for that, because it means that Nicki didn't have to pick up the phone to let me know that her baby girl Kenna was born earlier this week via emergency c-section at a teeny, tiny 9 ounces and 9 inches. I keep looking down at my hands, trying to even imagine holding a baby that small. Try it, it's crazy.

Kenna has totally defied the odds, showing she has her mama's spunk and resilience. I believe in Nicki. I believe she and her little girl will come through this, but my heart aches for her. Nicki blogs because she has to write. It's her outlet. She's blogged honestly about the ups and downs of her life. And she has blogged every day through this difficult week. When life gets tough, I fall off the map. (Notice the complete drop in blog posts after B was born.) I hide. Instead, Nicki has replied to texts, e-mails, Facebook messages, everything... And I do not know how she has does it.

Nicki draws strength from her readers and her community. She is putting herself out there, radiating positivity, sharing her struggles, and keeping her readers and friends informed each day. She is a really talented and truthful writer. And she knows that this is what blogging is all about... Putting your story out there, sharing your life, and finding that there are people out there who can understand you.

I have seen the way the blogging community has rallied around my friend, in ways she may not even know yet and I'm proud to be a part of it. In the same way we were making peanut butter pies in August, we're sending our most positive energy, thoughts, prayers (whatever it might be) to Nicki who proves that blogging is about so much more than just being a mom blogger. So, do me a favor... Send her some of your energy. She needs it.