Are you familiar with the blog by Stephanie Nielsen, a woman horribly burned in a flying accident about six-seven years ago? Her blog HERE . I don’t remember where I first heard her story, but I began reading her blog as she chronicled her struggle to recover from a near fatal accident that burned over 80 percent of her body. At the time she was the young mother of four children. I was amazed at her courage and determination to get back to some semblance of a normal life, the family she cherished.
And now I’ll admit because I want to be honest before I accuse… that I stopped reading it other than a catch up now and then because in my opinion her blog became more of a Mormon pulpit, an advertisement for the people and companies who undoubtedly send her lovely things for all her support of their product, and … every single family event is photographed by a professional photographer. For me, reading Nienie was no longer about admiring and cheering on a journey being hard won by a determined woman against significant odds. Laced in with the happy family occasions that we all loved to see was all the commercial and Mormon peddling that became too preachy for me.
I did what is appropriate to do when you start feeling differently about something like this… I just stopped reading it so often, although I check in now and then because I do still find her story amazing, her courage inspiring, and I wish her family the best, always happy to hear of their triumph over a horrible incident that has no doubt changed their lives forever.
What really surprised me recently was… I stumbled across a blog that is set up solely to -hate- on Stephanie Neilsen. Thankfully she doesn’t get much attention. But..there is a mommy bloggers feed with 700 something comments all aimed at Nienie -hate-. This feed is out there for anyone to read.. including Stephanie and even more horribly, her children. The ugly comments range from calling her snarky to sophomoric to selfish and there’s an awful lot of what can only be referred to as jealous rage over the things she has been gifted because of her accident and incredible story.
It’s downright ugly and far worse than anything she could be putting on her blog – HER BLOG – which is a chronicle of what she wants to talk about, a chronicle of her family’s journey. HER JOURNEY. To snipe at someone in such a public fashion, the masses gathering to do so!… just because you don’t like her personality or what she chooses to believe in or the things she is gifted because of it…well, Jeez, have you held an honest mirror up to yourself lately?… is what I want to say. This particular person, no matter WHAT she has gained financially since her accident… is horribly disfigured and suffers pain every single day. Not one of these mean spirited people would trade places with her ….. ever.
There are times when I am so uplifted by the generosity of the human spirit… and times when I cry at how low it can go.
– Just sayin.