Things Have Been Quiet Here

As you’ve noticed, things have been quiet here on my blog, especially since January. Things will remain that way for some time, and I wanted to share some high-level information about why.

For those of you who don’t know, my family was struck by incredible tragedy in January which left my wife dead, my daughter severely injured, my mother-in-law (who lives with us) traumatized, and my son in detention facing many years of legal and mental health issues.

We’ve had an amazing outpouring of love and support from family, friends, the Ashland community, and the greater software community I’ve been involved with over the years.

I’ve especially been humbled by the response to the GoFundMe campaign set up by David Giard.

Moving forward, I’ve left full-time work at Pillar Technology so I can focus on my family. I’ll be speaking at StirTrek in Columbus on 5 May; however, other speaking/conference trips will be dramatically fewer than in past years. I’ll continue some part-time writing work on the side, and I’ll be continuing in a part-time role with Pillar focusing on a number of things where I can add value to that amazing company in my new life.

I appreciate that many readers may want to express support/love/condolences, but I’m going to turn off comments on this particular post. Thank you for your understanding.

More importantly, thank you all for the many years of collaboration, friendship, snark, bi-directional learning, and outright joy I’ve gotten from my involvement with the community.

I’ve always said I’ve gotten far more from the community than I’ve ever received. That’s been never more evident than the last two months. Thank you all.

Finally: Go hug your loved ones. Don’t leave things unsaid. Stop what you’re doing and make sure they know you care. Right. Now. I mean it. Life is fragile and precious. Celebrate it.