Two years ago today, the Lost and Found started as a single post on this blog which was erased and rewritten daily. A week later, the Lost and Found moved to its current location in order to enable old posts to stick around and be searchable.
When the LFCA first began, it was to serve as a central meeting space so that when someone closed their blog or started their blog, they could communicate with the blogosphere at large. It was a place to ask questions and get them answered. There was space for miscellaneous news and loss, pregnancy, birth/adoption announcements. The whole idea was to utilize the googleability of the Web so that people would know when they were missed.
And then it moved and grew and grew, with spaces added for support request, remembrance announcements, bedrest aid, and birthdays/anniversaries. And I'm sure it will continue to grow, with new categories added and tweaked as the years go on.
Two years ago, the news was submitted by the Clickers. While there are still a few active Clickers, for the most part, news is semi-anonymously (it's not anonymous on my end, but I never tell who submitted a blurb and change all first-person submission to third-person) posted by blog readers or the person via the LFCA form. The LFCA form, how I love you. You made the LFCA so much easier. I now can cut-and-paste the whole post in a matter of minutes.
I'm proposing three ways to celebrate the second anniversary of the Lost and Found:
(1) Submit your news. Everyone has news and if you've read the LFCA, you know that news runs the gamut. Or submit someone else's news. Don't worry that someone else may have already submitted it. When I get two or more copies of the same news, I use one and delete the others. I'd rather get the same news three times than not-at-all. So send in your news via the form and make a quick link to the form on your computer so you can submit news as you read.
(2) Set aside one day a week to randomly choose five links off the LFCA and leave a comment. This came in an email the other day from Kate at Maybe Baby?: "Someone posted my sad news on Lost and Found. The outpouring of love and support I got from the IF community overwhelmed me and felt like a big hug, a hug from people who would never tell me 'it happened for a reason,' 'it's meant to be,' or 'it's for the best.' Hugs and comfort from people who don't need me to explain who know exactly how I feel." And that is why it's important to comment. Even when you don't regularly read their blog. Because they simply want comfort from people who get it.
(3) Participate in a letter exchange. In the book, I give a general letter that people can carry with them and touch whenever they need a reminder that someone out there has their back. But it would be better if each person could have a note that is specifically personalized for them. For the same reason as #2, having a note to carry in your pocket to difficult appointments or baby-centered social events from someone who gets it makes a difference. Just a simple note to cheer you on and commiserate. So make a commitment with another blogger this week to exchange notes with one another so each person has that portable support. If you feel shy asking another person for a note, but would like to do this as a formal project, I'm happy to set up an exchange. Let me know if there is interest in the comment section below.
Happy anniversary, little LFCA. And tell your own story about the LFCA and a time you've connected with another person in the blogosphere.
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
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34 comments:
I love the LFCA. I read it each time it is posted to catch up with what is going on with everyone.
Thank you, Mel!
Happy birthday LFCA. Much love to you.
Happy Birthday LFCA!!!
Bringer of so much joy, support and encouragement.
#3 has me sitting up...can you elaborate on that. I don't have your book and you can kick my chin for that. What is expected there?
Regarding #2, well I tend to read LFCA everyday. And I would pick up atleast one news to respond to. I have been slack at it lately, but I do read it up.
#1..here I come!
Happy Birtday LFCA! I will admit that I have only recently started checking out LFCA, but it has quickly become a bit of an addiction. It has become my third stop every day online (first - fertility friend, second my blog, then LFCA).
I love the idea of the letter exchange. I love and value the support I receive from the online community, but to have a physical reminder of that support would be invaluable on those tough days.
Much love, LFCA. Here's to another successful year!
Happy Birthday LFCA!! Thank you LFCA!!
I love the idea of the letter project. Anyone who needs a letter to pep you up for a fight with insurance people or doctor's offices, just ask me! I'm geared up for a fight! Yeah!
OK, I'm calm now.
Happy Birthday LFCA!!! You are the best! This is one of the best ideas ever and I have received so much support from it and it just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
The letter idea is so great. I too am would love to send a letter to anyone that needs it. We can all use a letter.
Thanks Mel! and HUGS to ALL!!
Happy Birthday LFCA!
I love the LFCA. Just love it. I submit my own news sometimes, and have submitted for others often. The outpouring of support and connections of friends I've made over the past couple of years is priceless, absolutely priceless.
Thank you Mel, as always, for all you do.
Happy Anniversary. I'd love to do an exchange with another dead baby mum.
Happy birthday, LFCA! As a matter of fact, there is a post about me in this very edition. : ) I didn't submit it -- I'm thinking it must be a carryover from last year. I have submitted my own news in the past, as well as news I've noticed from others, occasionally.
What an amazing resource it is for all of us -- thank you, Mel!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY LFCA!!
I read you every time there are updates. Without you I never would have been able to connect with so many amazing & supportive people. I remember getting a thrill whenever news of mine was posted along my W journey. It is truly like a table of contents for the week in our community.
THANK YOU Mel for creating such an amazing place.
(insert joke I wanted to make about Obama having the same birthday as LFCA and the birthers and birthing and...ok, truth be told I couldn't quite get a joke nailed down, but I SO wanted to try.)
Thank you, Mel, for everything you do for this community, especially including LFCA.
I like all of your celebration ideas. My news is in the current LFCA edition, but I will certainly be on the lookout for something else to submit. I need to get better about checking LFCA more regularly again and promise to do that.
I love the idea of the letter exchange. I'd love to have something to carry with me to remind me of the wonderful community here.
The email you quoted from Kate says exactly what I am feeling right now, but more eloquently. Thank you.
Happy Anniversary LFCA! I read it everyday and try to comment when I can.
I have no need for letters anymore. I have a lot of experience in the infertility arena, though, and I have been told that I give a good pep talk. I would be happy to write a letter on anything from IVF, miscarriage, surviving twin pregnancy and everything in between.
I think LFCA is the epitome of what we are as an ALI community. We have a bond, and we know the uber importance of commenting- even if you don't know each other. I think it is a great idea to encourge people to submit their own news...and even more important to submit our fellow bloggers news when you know they need support.
I think the idea of a blogger with 3 followers gets the same support as one with 300 followers thanks to LFCA.
I check it every day on my google reader.
Thank you for the LFCA!! I look forward to it every day as a way to keep tabs on what's happening out there in the bloggy world. I really appreciate your hard work on this!!
Happy Birthday LFCA! Your love and support is appreciated all around the blogosphere.
Happy Anniversary LFCA!
The LFCA is an amazing place. For me, just the fact that people read about some bad time I had, and made the effort to come over, well that felt like a big hug.
And I would love to take in the letter exchange, but hmmmm shy is my middle name, so I would appreciate if you could set up the exchange :-).
Happy Birthday LFCA! I didn't pay much attention to the LFCA until I needed to shut down my old blog because my scary soon-to-be ex-husband found it. I tried to contact all my commenters, but I was so happy I could also leave a message on the LFCA to reach some more people who maybe read but never left a comment and would be freaked out when the blog was suddenly shut down (when I had been talking about abuse stuff).
Then I was able to let everyone know I was ok, and it meant THE WORLD to me that people left me messages on the LFCA showing their concern for me during my time "between blogs."
And, of course, the LFCA announced my new blog, and the outpouring of love I felt with my new blog was astonishing.
Since then, I have been the most faithful of LFCA-readers and try to comment when I can. I don't miss an issue, JUST IN CASE, something has happened to someone I know.
So thank you, LFCA, MUAH! Many happy returns.
Two years, M! And such a useful site. It has brought a lot of good into the world.
Bea
Joining the "Happy Birthday" chorus for LFCA. Thank you for creating it, Mel.
I'd be happy to write someone a letter and wouldn't need one in return.
Happy birthday, my 2 yo back pocket friend.
I am so glad you're here. Your creator and your readers rock.
I can't even begin to list the number of times LFCA has either helped me out or has led me to a blog. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Thank you SO much for the LFCA--it has been such an awesome resource. Happy Birthday, LFCA
I think that the things that you have done and continue to do for the ALI community are simply amazing! The blogging community was such an overwhelming support for me after the loss of my daughter, and having access to the resources that you have compiled and sorted helped (and continues) to help me on a daily basis. Happy Birthday to LFCA!
Oh Happy Day!
Oh Happy Da-a-ay!
When Lollipop blogs
The world is fine!
Oh Happy Day!
(corny but true!)
Happy Anniversary - or as I like to say "Happy 'nursery"!
You seriously rock!
Happy Birthday, LFCA!
Happy Anniversary!
I love LFCA. I love the support I get when I least expect it.
You rock. Our community rocks.
Happy birthday, LFCA. It is such an amazing place. When someone has submitted my news, I feel like someone can see how hard this all can be. That acknowledgment made all the difference some days between the fetal position, and functioning. Thank you.
The LFCA was really one of your best ideas ever. And that's saying a lot.
Happy Anniversary, LFCA. Thank you Mel!
Very Happy Anniversary to the LFCA!
Thanks to the LFCA, I have gotten virtual hugs and support for the ALI community when I really needed it the most. I can't even begin to describe how important it has been to me.
The LFCA is something that I talk about to everyone I am explaining the IF blogosphere to. It really shows how amazing this community is in terms of support and community. Happy birthday LFCA and hooray Mel for making it what it is.
There is still so much on your blog that I need to investigate. My husband and I are really going through a rough patch right now and so when I had folks coming over that I had 'never met' before and giving us support this week, it was amazing. Not sure how I landed on LFCA as I didn't even know it existed, but so glad I did. Mel, what you have created here is so amazing! Thank you!
Thanks for mentioning a book for Blogger Bingo!
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