A Valentine for People who Read My Blog

Dear Readers,

Life in the Boomer Lane spends a lot of time making fun of things in this world that make her laugh, make her crazy, make her angry, and have her believe we are all literally going to hell in a hand basket, and the hand basket is ratty and moldy and full of holes and doesn’t even have anything good to eat in it. But when LBL has something serious to say, she usually drops the LBL stuff and just speaks as herself.

So this is what I want to do now, to speak to anyone who has ever read this blog, even if you came across it by accident, thinking it had something to do with hallucinogenic mushrooms.

Here is what I want to tell you:

You make me feel honored. There are entirely too many things that bombard us in the course of a day. Some of them are necessary evils. Others are joyful but still take up a lot of time. And, as we age, we all know that time, itself, goes through some crazy warp-speed kind of thing. Personally, I’ve just gotten comfortable with the idea of the millennium, and to the rest of the planet, it’s old news. So when anyone takes the time to read my post, I am honored. Even if I give a flip comment to any comment you’ve written, know that underneath that comment, I am honored.

You make me feel grateful. The thousands of comments I’ve received during the time I’ve been blogging have been generous, validating, and open-minded. I know that some of you may not share my political or social or religious viewpoints. But I’ve never (as in never) received a comment that was rude or hostile. That’s pretty amazing. Oh, once I did receive a misogynist comment from a man who made a strong case for why older men prefer younger women. I simply didn’t give him space on the blog. But that’s it, and that’s pretty amazing. And I am grateful.

You make me feel surprised and delighted. When I started this blog, I never expected it to reach many people. That’s because I was inviting people into the recesses of my wacky brain. I’ve learned that in real life people either tell me I’m the funniest person they have ever met, or they just stare at me. And believe me, a lot just stare. So I didn’t know how this would go. But I’m told there are almost 7000 people following me (personally, I think this number is about 6500 too high, but that’s the stuff of another blog post). The bottom line is, I’m surprised and delighted.

I’ve come pretty close to stopping this blog on several occasions, for a variety of reasons. Invariably, I’ll then read one of your comments (usually involving coffee spewing out of some random opening on your face) and that will have me keep going. And many of your comments are funnier than my post. So I’m being entertained, myself, as I entertain you.

So here is your valentine. Imagine it looking any way you’d like. Accompany it with a box of chocolates, if you’d like that. Or some expensive bauble. Since it’s all words, I can be extravagant. The important thing is that I give you this valentine to say Thank You. From the bottom of my heart.

Renee