I discovered yesterday that someone had taken the content from my entire website and plagiarized it. It was maddening to read my story of how it all began with someone else’s name inserted where mine belongs. It was infuriating to see Katie’s name missing and someone else’s childs name parked in her spot.

What possesses some people to take the easy way out? The longer I looked at what this person had tried to do the more upset I became.
Not because I think I have created some award winning website that shouldn’t be touched but because I know what my daughter has sacrificed for us to get this far.
In just a matter of seconds, I saw our “life movie” flash before me. In my mind I watched as Katie stood hugging her gymboree blanket asking to go to the park. Me refusing her request because I had too many orders and too little time. Desperation written on her face because she was tired of being cooped up in the house. Desperation coloring mine because I needed to list more auctions so I could afford groceries.

I watched myself lifting my head off of my keyboard as I woke from a deep sleep. How many times did I actually fall asleep writing the html code that would eventually bring a steady income? I don’t know. Too many times to count. How many times did I swear out loud when I would refresh a page to discover everything had shifted to the right and it would take hours to find my mistake? I lost count there, too.

Fast forward a little and Katie wants to go to the movies. We can’t. I have to work on the site. Shoulders slumped, she walks away. My heart breaks but she needs glasses and it’s getting cold. Coats are expensive.
One day she will appreciate the sacrifices we are making. At least that’s what I tell myself so that I can sleep when I do finally stop for the night.

Hours of research attempting to learn how to fix the pictures so that when you roll the mouse over them they change to a larger size or different color. Hands shaking as I wrote checks that I hoped I could cover for photographs that I couldn’t take on my own. Stepping out on faith and buying cameras that took money we didn’t have.
Endless hours of lost sleep taking pictures as fast as I could so that I could list auctions to pay for the cameras. Tossing, turning, praying that each satisfied customer would tell a friend how to find our ebay store. Constantly checking the feedback on Ebay to make the guilt go away. Surely it was okay to keep sacrificing my time with my daughter if I was paying the bills and making so many others happy. The ultimate goal being a website that would reduce the amount of time spent away from Katie.

Fast forward a lot… I don’t have a ton of pictures of Katie playing in the yard, baking cookies or blowing bubbles on a sunny day. I do have a stack of dvd’s 6 inches tall that contain pictures of bows and copies of my website through the years. Our life line…the website….the heart of the business that pumps money into our account so that we have food, shelter and clothing. Without it, our ability to support ourselves would die. It’s that simple.

You know, it’s not about making a lot of money or having a lot of extras. It’s about survival. It’s about building a business that you can be proud of and providing an honest days work for an honest days pay. The lady who tried to steal our website will probably never know what that feels like. If she reads this I want her to know that I am not angry. I feel sorry for her.

Today, the website gives Katie and I more time together. We still struggle to find a balance. Who doesn’t? But I am grateful that the sacrifices we have made have been worth it in the long run. And the show goes on…