1,016,375.
I just reached one-million-page views on this blog.
Now, I have to be honest with you. When I started this
journey, I wasn't entirely sure what a page view was. For all I knew, it might
have meant someone in a faraway country held up a printed page and squinted at
it. Or perhaps it was some mysterious internet counter that clicked over
whether anyone actually read the words or just accidentally landed there
looking for cat videos.
But apparently, it's important. People who understand these
things tell me it's a milestone. So, I'm going to trust them and do what any
reasonable person would do when reaching a milestone:
I'm going to brag about it at my weekly luncheon with
friends.
How This All Started
Back in 2010, I began writing this blog for one simple
reason: my grandson. I wanted him to have some record of what his grandfather
was thinking about on ordinary days, not just the big events. What I worried
about. What made me laugh. What I remembered from a world that already looked
very different from his.
I was inspired by my mother. She kept a diary from the day
she married my father. It was her secret, hidden away, never discussed. When
she died at only 56, I was given the chance to open those pages and discover
who she really was, what she loved, what she feared, for what she hoped.
It was like meeting her for the first time.
I wanted my children and my grandson to have that same gift.
Not my secrets, necessarily (though I've shared a few), but my presence. My
voice. My particular way of seeing things.
Then Something Unexpected Happened
At first, I had no readers. None. Zero. I was writing into
the void, and the void was politely not responding.
But slowly, over months and years, people started showing
up. A comment here. A reaction there. Someone from across the country would
say, "I feel exactly the same way." Someone from another continent
would share a story of their own.
What a feeling. Strangers, taking time out of
their day to read the ramblings of a Canadian senior, and then, this still
amazes me, writing back.
I realized my audience wasn't just from Canada. It was from
everywhere. So, I adjusted. I moved from writing about specifically Canadian
aging to a more general approach, hoping to connect with seniors everywhere who
were navigating the same joys and challenges.
The Awards Came (Sort Of)
Eventually, this little blog started getting noticed. I won
an award for being one of the top ten blogs for seniors in Canada. That felt
pretty grand, let me tell you. I considered having a plaque made.
Then I made it onto a list of the top one hundred blogs for
seniors, and somewhere along the way, I climbed into the top thirty. I'm not
entirely sure how these rankings work either, but I'll take it.
Over the years, I've written about retiring (confusing),
health issues (annoying), advice to my grandson (endless), and I've even tried
my hand at poetry and jokes. The poetry was hit or miss. The jokes landed about
as well as you'd expect from someone my age. But it kept the creative juices
flowing, and that mattered.
What I've Written About
If you've been with me for any length of time, you've read
about:
- The
joys of discovering that "retiree time" is completely different
from regular time (we don't wear watches, we show up eventually)
- Fraud
prevention, because the scammers keep getting smarter, and we need to keep
getting smarter right back
- Mental
health in older adulthood, a topic too often whispered about in corners
- Food
banks and why spring is such a critical time for donations
- Patience,
failure, overeating, and all the other perfectly human struggles we
navigate
- And of
course, whatever random thought crossed my mind on any given morning with
coffee
What a Page View Actually Means
Since you've been kind enough to read this far, let me
explain what I've since learned about page views.
Every time someone, you, perhaps, clicks on a post and reads
it, that's a page view. If you read five posts, that's five page views. If you
accidentally click and immediately leave, that's still a page view, though I
prefer not to think about those ones.
So one million page views means that one million times,
someone somewhere decided to spend a few minutes with my words. One million
moments of connection between people and me I will never meet.
That's not just a number. That's a community.
Why I Keep Writing Every Day
Here's the truth. At first, I wrote for my grandson. Then I
wrote because people started reading. Then I wrote because it became a habit,
as essential as morning coffee.
But now? Now I write because it keeps me connected. To you.
To the world. To my own thoughts, which sometimes need sorting out loud.
I am in my 80th year. That sounds impossibly old when I say
it, and yet here I am, still typing, still thinking, still showing up. I hope
to continue this blogging adventure for a few more years. As long as my fingers
cooperate and my brain keeps generating things worth saying.
A Heartfelt Thank You
So, to every single person who has ever clicked on this blog,
whether you read every word or just glanced and moved on, thank you.
Thank you for being part of this unexpected, wonderful
journey. Thank you for commenting, for sharing, for making an old man feel like
his voice still matters. Thank you for being the community I never knew I was
writing for.
I don't fully understand what one-million-page views means
in the grand scheme of things. But I know what it means to me.
It means I'm not alone. And neither are you.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a luncheon to attend and some bragging to do.
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