There is some page on Facebook where all of your "friends" faces are to one side and smiling back at you. It's the one place where everyone is happy and smiling in my life. It's sorta creepy though too.
One particular face stood out to me--it was the face of an acquaintance who passed away at Thanksgiving. I guess in all of the madness of her death and struggle to continue on without their wife and mother, the family didn't shut down her Facebook account. Or maybe they leave it there to visit her. Sort of a memorial of sorts. Same thing with her blog--it's still there.
I like the idea of eternal life online--although I would like someone to turn off the comments so that I don't have pallies leaving comments that I can't answer. That would make me crazy in the afterlife. Or with my luck, my dusty old blog would become bogged down with spam. Ugh.
But isn't it nice that we can go back and read their words, hear their voices in our heads, and see their smiling faces again? I like that. I find comfort in her thoughts and words and it is nice to be able to "visit" with her again.
Jodi still has Margie's photo up in her Follower list--and I like that. I think it is a fine memorial to a fellow blogger and I actually go back through her old posts every now and then to smile and remember her. I like that her smiley face reminds me to think of her and to reflect on her passing and how life is so darn short.
Isn't it odd this media-loaded world we live in? I mean, now when the family is planting daisies on my grave, they'll have to decide what to do with all of my social networks. Isn't that weird? And does anyone else think of stuff like this or is it just me?
I guess part of our wills and last wishes will have to include all of our passwords and log-on names. And what we want with our blog that remains.
26 comments:
Weird? Not really. I think you are absolutely right. For me, leave the blog up, but turn off the comments. Facebook? Not to worry, not on there-- yet.
Great suggestion, that we leave directives in our "last wishes."
This is something I had not thought about. Hummmm....
It took me two years to delete a friend's name off my phone after he had died.
I think I still have my Memaw's phone number in my phone! I remember when my technologically advanced grandfather died and my uncles called AOL and cancel his account.
I hope I will have time to wipe my hard drive, delete as much of my on-line presence as possible and shred my papers. I'd rather leave nothing behind but I can see where and why others might want to leave some stuff behind.
Wow Lin. I have never even considered that. I will now.
My hubby will be lost. He can't remember any password. I am the keeper. He will be locked out of the computer when I die.
Bwahahahaha
In a few years all the social network stuff will cost $ and when your annual subscription lapses ....Adios! Fran's Dad
Last week I wrote down all the on line sites I belong to and my passwords just in case....creepy I know but I was thinking about the annual fees I pay on some of them and I didn't want my credit card debited after I'm gone:)
Oh I have thought about this too. Gerard wouldn't have a clue how to post anything on our blog and has no desire to learn. I have made a list of logins and passwords for him though. The thing is to remember to give him updates!
For months I have wanted to pen a Goodbye for my blog after I have passed for my daughter to post.This is a reminder that I need to stop procrastinating and write it.
I won't talk to my husband about grim things like death but I did have the talk to him that if I can't blog or get on a computer he has to do all these things and I showed him where to find the passwords. Kinda odd I guess!
I'm pretty sure that if anything were to ever happen to me, no one in my family would think about my poor little blog. I think it should definitely be mentioned in my will
No, Lin I don't think you are weird because I'm not weird and I think of this all the time. When I leave the house I make sure I tell my boys I love them because I often think if something happens to them I know I've told them...or I wonder if I've forgotten, does that mean something IS going to happen becuase I didn't say it?
I think my husband would let everyone know if something happened to me because he knows how much I care for all of you!
thanks for reminding me how precious time is to all of us!
I still have my brother's email address as a contact although he's been gone for two years. I don't think I want to delete it. Somehow, it makes it final.
I haven't really thought much about passwords and all of that. But then again, my daughters know that I tend to use the same password over and over again so they'd more than likely figure it out.
One of my facebook friends passed away last fall and she still has people who drop by and leave messages to her, including her 10 year old son. I'm sure it brings them peace to believe that she's in heaven able to see how much people love her.
I have left instructions with my wife to leave all of my sites up and turn-off the comments after her mother finally succeeds in getting rid of me for good. Of course, if she is also in on it...
It makes you think that you should let someone know your passwords for your blog and facebook doesn't it? I like that you think of writing your blog and facebook instructions in your will! Honestly, it's a good idea I think ~ well maybe not in your will ~ but write it down somewhere.
I know one of my followers has passed away for sure as her hubby signed on and wrote about it. He didn't close down her blog though and every time I see her icon I think of her.
But I always wonder about those bloggers that you follow and they followed you and then one day they just stop posting. No announcement, no shutting down their blog, nothing. I have one that posted regularly (at least 3 times per week) and then bam, nothing for 8 months now. Did she pass away? Was she in an accident? What? I wonder about her lots.
Very thought provoking post Lin!!
xo Catherine
I just hope that when it is my time to go to the Rainbow Bridge, I have time to say goodbye to all my buddies.
I pop over to "see" Margie every now and then in hopes that her daughter posts something about the "grands". I also kept Margie's blog so I could go back and use her travel posts as my research tool. Forever she is immortalized in type. :-)
A friend of mine passed away last month and her page is also still up on Facebook. Every now & then I see that she has commented or "liked" a comment or post and it freaks me out! Not sure if it's the daughter or her husband that is doing it, but it's sort of weird!
There are now several of my FB people who are gone. Heck my SIL Kathy died in 2010, and her picture still pops up in my "you might also like" widget. It does seem weird. But, we keep pictures of dead people in our photo albums, so I guess it shouldn't feel odd. But it does.
Vanilla--Isn't it strange what we have to consider now?
Betty--Yeah, I'm having a hard time deleting too. It's kinda nice seeing that there, isn't it?
Lauren--It's weird, isn't it?? Life is so different now.
Grace--Really?? I'd like someone to remember me--at least for a little while.
DG--It's a good thing Hobbes and I were working on this for everyone. :)
Pricilla--I have a little rolodex next to my computer with all of my secret codes. I hope it helps someone--including me--to remember them all!
Fran's Dad--Maybe. But what we put out there will probably be hovering around for some time.
Mary Ann--It's all on my rolodex next to the computer. I can't remember them all now!
Karen--I like the idea of writing one last post for someone to put up when I'm gone. Can you imagine having the last word???
Jean--I like this idea, Jean. I think it a GREAT idea!!!
Beaded Tail--I will have to have a family meeting so that somebody here does what I want in the end. I can't have the Duck and Wheel just lay dormant forever!
Ann--I think they would remember it. I mean, it is a big part of who you are right? Maybe Duke will take over. ;)
Tracy--I would hope my family would do the same.
Chocolate--I couldn't delete that email address either. It's a nice memory, isn't it? I can't delete my friend's facebook link either. It's nice to see her there smiling at me.
Ozark Mtn. Cats--I did that too--when my friend died, I left the family a message. I hope it made them feel a bit better knowing that we all cared.
Fish--Hahaha! Yeah, gotta turn the comments off. Can you imagine the spam???
Catherine--There are so many blogs that just end with no warning and no closure and I don't like that. Although, I had one that I really liked that signed off and I felt worse because I knew it was final. It was sad. I'm not sure which is better. Margie's family wrote on her blog about their passing and how they are coping. I keep checking in on her family and her little dog.
Daisy--It would be nice to have a warning, wouldn't it? Then I could tell everyone how much I enjoy their company and friendship in this wacky blogging world. Oh--I guess I just did. :)
Jodi--Me too! I always check there and hope they are doing okay. I really worry about their little dog. I like to see her face in your list of Followers.
Lynne--OMG! That would be WEIRD! Unless you can FB as a ghost!! EEEK!
Good thinking. Last I looked I still had my old web page up, even though I'm no longer paying for the space. I won't tell anyone where it is because I did it in the early days of HTML.
Making a list of this sort of thing is a good idea.
OK..inappropriate laughing here, but it is kind of funny to think of leaving our passwords in our wills. I was thinking earlier in the post when you said that all of her online dots were left that maybe her family just simply didn't know her passwords! So haunting.
Marilynne--Well, maybe some folks won't care, but I think most of us do. It's a strange world we live in nowadays.
Nancy--Don't you wonder what would happen to your blogs if you went tomorrow?? Would you want your readers to know? Would you want it shut down? These are some questions to ponder. I'd want my readers to know that I'm gone I guess.
There was an article recently in The New York Times talking about this. It is something I never thought about until I read that article.
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