Day #31 of 31: Thank you to so many!

Stacey, Tara, Dana, Betsy, Anna, and Beth of twowritingteachers.wordpress.com--you have done an incredible job of inspiring so many writers throughout this month! Thank you so much!

I can't remember if I struggled to think of what to write during the 2013 Challenge, but I have to say, this year, I never felt like I had a shortage of writing materials. Last year, I wrote several memoirs and vignettes about my dad. This year, I focused more on the here and now. I have had several highlights over the last 31 days that I will share:

• Writing about the here and now for 31 days has made me focus on the here and the now. I have spent my days paying close attention to conversations, events, learning opportunities, sensory details, and working hard to remember them. I have loved this heightened sense of awareness that daily writing has given me for the month of March.
• Sharing some of the daily events of life led to a community of people who knew where I was, and thereby an in-person meeting with Jaana, a fellow slicer. If you ever get to meet slicers in person, don't hesitate. We have much more in common with each other than just slicing for 31 days in a row!
• Reconnecting on an almost daily basis with bloggers I "met" last year. Even though I have continued to read weekly posts from Elsie, Linda, Tara, Catherine, Jaana, Stacey, and Alan, it feels different when I'm reading about their lives every day. I wish that I'd had more time to reconnect with others, and I will try to do better next year!
• Getting to know some of the new slicers whose blogs I checked and read every day. I was so excited when Loralee and Priscilla were highlighted for special posts that they wrote, and Kristine, Alyson, Beth, Meg, and Crystal were wonderful posters to follow and cheer on--hooray for all of you! Holly wasn't one of official new slicers, but I loved reading about her family all month long! I hope she keeps sharing farm adventures on a weekly basis! Some of my newbies fell off the slicing wagon, and I hope that they come back next year. 
• Partnering with my daughter, Larkin, who also came back to slice every day for a second year. I was so proud of her for making this commitment and sticking with it during March of her senior year in high school. It was fun for me to read her insights and highlights of her life for a month! I'm hoping that one of my other daughters will join me next year, as well as Larkin!
• Internalizing and reflecting about the writing tips and mentor posts that Stacey shared throughout the month. I loved working on repetition and patterns, conversations, perspectives, surprises, and words and their reactions.

I am so grateful for the support, encouragement, comments, compliments and sharing that has gone on in this community. The audience sense of mission, and  community spirit made this a powerful learning experience during a busy and stressful month. Writing and commenting have been tasks that I've looked forward to and that I know I will miss.

Here's to the 2015 SOLC!