When I started blogging in the year 2002, not many people knew about blogs. Some who knew might find it uncomfortable to write in public and expose themselves to other people. My kids were still small. Ar was just a few months old. His sister Fa was turning 5. I had my blog on Diaryland. I knew a few other bloggers who wrote on Blogger (Blogspot) and Livejournal. Some people referred to blogs as online journal.
I was writing anonymously and knew none of the other bloggers in real life. My husband didn’t know about my blog either. Then, one day, it occurred to me. What if I die? What will happen to my blog? Who would notify my blogger friends? For all they knew, I was just bored, had decided to abandon the blog or had moved to another blogging host. That occurred a lot, actually. So I started listing my emails and passwords and also the password for my blog. I left the list in my wardrobe.
When Fa was small she read a lot of Enid Blyton’s. She loved creating stories and doing the illustration. Her writing style was influenced by Enid Blyton, it was kind of funny seeing a young child using the language like people did in the 50’s. I tried to transcribe what she wrote to a blog. Eventually, I mentioned the blog to my husband Li. I also showed him mine. So there, one problem is solved. If I died, at least Li could go to the comment section of the blog and leave a comment for my blogging friends.
Fast forward, I explored many other hosts such as modblog and efx2. They were not mainstream, but the community was rather small and friendly. I posted my pictures online and I’ve met some of them in real life. By 2007/2008, many of us got on Facebook and blogs were almost forgotten. I tried on and off setting up a new blog, but somehow I was too busy to write consistently. Then there were Twitter and Instagram.
Then the other day, we saw a tech programme on TV. The host was reviewing a smart phone app Flava, an offline diary. We were commenting about it and then Li mentioned Facebook. He said, “what would happen if we die. The FB account would still be there. Someone who doesn’t know that you have died, might still wish you happy birthday the following year”. I said, ” I think as a family member, you may contact FB admin to request for the FB account to be closed.” Anyway, we have smartphones now. I’m already logged in to FB, so just ask Fa to make the account private. So, I said it to Fa, “if I die, please ask FB to close my account or you may change the setting to private using my smart phone.”
Then, a few days ago, I set up this blog. None of my family members knew about it yet, but I guess with a smartphone, they could just go to the setting and close this account if anything happens to me.
Fragrance in My Garden 
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