A friend said that to me a year ago today. Blog... blog... the term seemed vaguely familiar. Where had I heard it before? Weren't "blogs" those Dutch wooden shoes? No wait, "Blög" was the name of that entertainment center that I saw in the IKEA catalog last week, right?  She laughed.  When she told me what a blog REALLY was, and that she wanted me to do one also, it was my turn to laugh.

I told her, a very talented (and published) freelance writer, that there was a reason I took engineering in college, and it wasn't to meet girls (never had a single one in any of my classes): I hated, scratch that, I downright loathed  English, and the major only required three basic composition courses.  They were the only C's I got in five years.  Writing just wasn't my thing. 

In the end, obviously, I humored her and opened this site.  I posted the only thing I had ever written, a few pictures and a couple dorky lists, thinking that's all this would ever be.  53 entries, three trips to the MSN homepage, 15 minutes of fame, a contract with a literary agent, and and over 900,000 hits later... here I stand (well, figuratively).  It should also be ironically noted that said friend pretty much lost interest within a week, and has only posted three things ever!  And while the list I just mentioned seems pretty amazing, they're ultimately just things.  There's one thing this goofy site has brought me that's value could never be measured.  This "community" we've built.

Call it fate/God's plan/whatever... it's crazy to think about what has happened since my site was featured on MSN.com that fateful day last summer.  What started out with a bunch of complete strangers leaving comments of support, has developed into this close-knit community of friends who care and look out for one another like family.  Personally, there are SO many people out there who I haven't actually met or spoken to in person that I hold very close to my heart... i.e. Jennifer, Keith, Marisa, Cori, Pilgrim Steve,Vanita (get well soon, girl), and Paul's mom, just to name a few.

But I must say, it's a little overwhelming to see how I was used as an instrument in all of this.  I was going back through my comments not too long ago, and it's crazy to see how many people decided to tell their incredible stories after seeing mine, and how each one of them has gone on to make such big impacts on people's lives they otherwise would have never known.  It's humbling to think about.

My link on MSN.com that morning said "quadriplegic seeks purpose."  I'm starting to realize that that one link alone just might be a big part of it.  What a difference a year makes, yeah?