Blog 3094 – 04.20.2024

Seven

Twelve years ago this July, my daughter Emily Elaine White died just five days after her thirty-second birthday. Only those who have lost a child can know how tragic and heartbreaking it is to realize that worst of parental fears. I would not wish that particular sorrow on anyone.

Several years after Emily passed I wrote a little book about her containing thirty-two episodes or chapters from her life. The title for the book I took from a line in today’s Norah Jones song. I call it, Emily, The Little Girl Who Sang Her Song To Anyone Who Came Along.

I originally started this daily blog nine years ago with the hope of building a platform, an online following, that might help me sell some publisher on the idea of publishing Emily’s book. I ended up publishing it twice one episode or chapter at a time over a couple of July(s) the first couple of years in the life of this blog. Scroll back to July 2015 or 2016 and you can read it entirely if you choose.

My original goal was to build my platform or online following to 10,000 which was the number that I had read might impress a would be publisher as being a worthy potential market for a new author. Even after nine years at this my platform has yet to grow that large. Realizing early on that the particular style and aim of The Encouraging Word might never be that popular I shifted my goal from 10,000 fans or followers to publishing 10,000 blogs, widely read or not.

I do take some encouragement that my blog is read internationally and occasionally I do have spikes in viewership that keep me hoping that someday I will attract a larger audience. Whether that ever happens in my lifetime, I hope that The Encouraging Word will live on like my little girl’s song long after I too have left this stage.

Some almost nine months ago a new little girl came into my life, Emma Grace White, my first granddaughter. Today’s picture above is a short video that my son Jay and his lovely wife Lauren sent me right after my wife and I, who proudly refer to ourselves now as Granny and Papa White, recently visited them and Emma.

This happy child reminds me of her Auntie Em and I intend to make sure that she knows all about the aunt she will never get to meet in this world. Emma already, is practicing her song. A host of fans and followers await. I am definitely one, as is our Emily listening from another room.

Emily at about Seven.

Your friend and fellow traveler, particular fan of Em(s),

David White

https://drive.google.com/file/d/12u-VjGg82HE-cnCBLV6sk3TExkMmiEq0/view?usp=drivesdk

Seven