Monday, February 25, 2013

Retiring Isabella’s Fight

So for a couple month’s, I’ve been trying to figure out what to do with this web site.  I’ve always wanted to keep it around as a reminder to chronicle everything that we went through, but I’ve also felt that it needs to take on a new direction now.  So I’ve decided to retire this “version” of the web site and move to a new design, which I haven’t picked yet. 

The screen saver that I have on all of our computers displays all of our pictures that we’ve taken over the years.  With each picture that displays, I’m brought back to the time that the picture was taken.  I thought it would be neat not just to share some of these pictures and videos with you, but to include some narrative of the picture to help frame a story around the picture.  Many of you only became aware of Isabella when she got sick, but prior to that, she was an extremely vibrant and bright girl.  Even after she got sick, she displayed an amazing resiliency and positive attitude that will continue to drive me until the day that I meet her again. 

I want to share those events with you so you can see that Isabella’s life wasn’t just chemotherapy and radiation and sickness.  I want to share those events with you so that we don’t forget Isabella and what a wonderful person she was.  I want to share with you those events so that we are all reminded that pediatric cancer is not just about cute bald kids and ribbons and bracelets – it’s about the innocent lives that are lost and wasted.  Sadly, there are still many thousands out there, fighting for their lives.

So I’m not sure yet when I’ll launch the new site (I literally just thought of this a few minutes ago).  The address for this site will continue to be the same.  And the “Isabella’s Fight” site won’t be disappearing – I’ll still make it available from the new site.  I don’t know whether the e-mail alerts will continue to work, but I’ll let you know if you have to sign up again.  I hope you continue to visit the site and I hope that I can make Isabella proud and give you all just a glimpse into what made her so special.

Here are some interesting site statistics:

Number of posts:  380 (including this one)

Number of pageviews:  138,012 (and counting)

First PostA Fun Weekend

Most Viewed PostGoodbye Isabella

Next Most Viewed PostSeptember 21, 2012

Comments:  689 (thanks to all for reading, even if you never commented!)