THE OTHER day, I was very down. As my husband can tell you, for much of the entire day before I sat grimly staring out the window. I thought I might not have the resources to continue the regular work I do here. I was like Jimmy Stewart’s George Bailey in It’s a Wonderful Life, standing on the bridge in the cold, contemplating the worst. I was not contemplating real suicide of course, but a form of blogger suicide. Or blog-icide.

But things are going well with my fundraiser thanks to the great generosity of readers. If I can meet my goal, I will be ecstatic. In any event, I have received such encouragement from readers that I feel like Bailey when he went home and all the people in the neighborhood appeared and threw some of their hard-earned savings on his living room table. That’s exactly how I feel. Whatever happens, I truly have wonderful friends. That was the problem with George Bailey when he stood on the bridge. He didn’t realize how many friends he had.

Here are some of the notes from readers I have received:

WINNIE writes:

To echo sentiments I’ve already expressed, but maybe not well enough, God bless you for your blog, for your keen observation and brave and selfless stance for the sake of Truth.  You were instrumental in my own awakening which came to fruition some two years ago.

I am sending you a small token of thanks, but I’m embarrassed that I cannot give in adequate reflection of the worth of your steady presence amid the chaos – to me and to your countless readers.  I hope you will keep your site up, full as it is of wisdom and worthy material, even if your ability to post declines.

I thank you for your bravery.

Chris writes:

I’ve only been reading your posts for the last few months, but I look for those RSS feed updates throughout the day. As a Catholic convert with degrees in philosophy and law that considers himself fairly well-educated and serious about growing in the Faith, your posts are analogous to a drip-feed of nourishing homemade chicken noodle soup. Its good for the soul and tastes good going down. Blushingly, I admit that your mind and prose make you one of the [most interesting] women I’ve never met.

Keep it up, Laura. Lots of us need that nourishing soup.

N.W. writes:

Definitely need to let people know where your goal is and how far you have to reach it. People need concrete images; abstract appeals go in one ear and out the other. Of course, I would completely understand if you were ready to move on to other projects; I imagine it is quite weary doing all that you do to facilitate the wonderful discussions on your blog. I also imagine it is quite tiresome putting up with all the vitriolic hatemail that a site like yours must attract .

I would be terribly saddened to see your site go though. The care with which you and Mr. Auster cultivated conversations on your respective blogs is something I have not found anywhere else. I miss the conversations had on VFR and I often find myself reading the news and wondering what Lawrence would have to say about it. I’m sorry I never had the opportunity to meet him personally.

 It’s heartening to see a consciously traditional and conservative institution begin to take shape in the American Traditionalist Society. I’m admittedly a little rough around the edges, don’t know what some would make of me, but I’d like to be of service if I could.

 Laura writes:

Thank you.

I am not weary of doing this at all. And I am completely undeterred by hate mail or nasty things said about me. That all goes with the territory.

James N. writes:

I love your work. Fundraising is very difficult.

You posted your first fundraising notice on November 14. A period of two weeks would be, I think, ambitious to reach your goal. Three or four weeks would be more reasonable. I have no doubt that you (with a little help from your friends) will get there.

Try a little pizza – it might cheer you up while waiting for the donations. Paraphrasing Winnie the Pooh, “Nobody can be uncheered with a [pizza].”

Jim V. writes:

I do very much appreciate the format that you use, with no advertising, and no (to my knowledge) personal photos of yourself, your home, your family, your pets, etc., just food for thought and discussion. The only thing I would perhaps like to see changed in your format, would be to create a way to email your posts to others. Perhaps there is a way, and I just don’t know how to go about it. Thanks again for doing what you do so well.

Karin writes the following and sends a donation:

To quote Cher, which I don’t think I’ve ever done before or will do again, “Baby, don’t go . . . pretty baby please don’t goooooo.” I can’t go to sleep unless I’ve read your site for the day. Hope this helps make the goal. Thanks for all of your un-remunerated work in the past.

Laura writes:

Thank you. I’m glad I put you to sleep. : – )

Jason writes:

I do not have much so I gave what I can.  Thank you for taking care of Lawrence Auster in the end in case you have not heard that enough already.

I tend not to comment on many of these sites but they are the only place to find out what is really going on these days.  You are a wealth of information and also entertainment (the pizza stuff cracks me up :)).

Thanks again, I hope you hit your goals.

 Laura writes:

Thank you for your thoughtfulness.

Robert, a member of the Thinking Housewife Platinum Circle of donors, writes:

I am very proud to be a platinum contributor! It is great to see that you are getting closer to achieving your fundraising goal.

I am looking forward to receiving your “pizza.” I am planning to travel over the Christmas holiday. If you think that it will arrive after the 19th, could you mail it to my parent’s house? Here’s their address…

Laura writes:

Sure!

Stewart, also in the Platinum Circle, writes:

Money is tight for all of us, but the work you do is invaluable on many levels, so it seems the least that I can do.

Keep up the good fight.

Eileen writes:

Thank you so much for your website.  I hope that you’ll receive the necessary donations to keep it up and running. I really love it, I try and visit it everyday.  Also, I have recommended the site to others.

May God Bless You.

Laura writes:

Thank you.

Doug writes:

Your site has been so important to me and I would love to be able to continue to read it. Discovered at the same time as Lawrence Auster, you and he both strengthened my instincts and bolstered my reasoning. I was raised Southern Baptist, not strict – my parents were mainstream middle class and followed the middle way, not extreme at all. That childhood in a church that I would ridicule as “country club baptist ” was a wonderful childhood blessed with good solid values, even if lacking in sharp doctrinal guidelines. Your site has sharpened those guidelines and their importance. If you continue the site I could pledge $10 a month and I don’t expect pizza either. I miss Lawrence and I don’t want to miss you .Thank you for the huge amount of work, both organizing and all the thinking that goes into the Thinking Housewife.

Laura writes:

Thank you very much.

There is a feature at Paypal for setting up automatic payments.

Mark Moncrieff of Upon Hope blog writes:

I wrote earlier in the year that I would donate, now I have as my financial position is better this time of year. I very much hope that you reach your goal as I only link to four sites and yours is one of them.

Keith, who has been in the Platinum Circle for years, responded to my thank you note in which I thanked him for allowing me to “continue annoying many people:”

Above my desk, in my cluttered study, I have two small pictures — no more.

On the left, a faded old photograph (taken in 1938) of my Grandfather with his five sons. ( It was a wedding; there was also a photograph of him with his three daughters, but I do not have it.)

On the right, a reproduction of the Madonna and Child, by Hans Memling. Very pure face. I am sure you know it. (it’s a detail. Original at Bruges, I think.)

It may be that you annoy some, but you uplift and strengthen others.

I am one of those others, who are glad that you keep going.

Tammy writes:

I have read your blog almost daily since I discovered it about a year ago. I cannot accurately express the contribution you’ve made to my outlook on life or how profoundly you’ve helped me articulate my views.

Please do not stop your blog. I am a single mother raising a teenage daughter and I don’t have much money to give, but I’m so grateful for your blog.

Have you explored other avenues of fund raising other than the readers of your blog? Perhaps reaching out to organizations that share the same views?

Thank you so much for your blog. I hope you continue to post.

Laura writes:

Thank you, sweetheart. I will explore various options.

Scott writes:

Thank you for your hard work and great site. No need for the Pizza thingy. Sounds good, but, please donate mine to someone of your choice.

Laura writes:

Thank you.

I have donated it to a reader who mentioned he wanted one of the Pizza Civitavecchias but couldn’t afford it.

John writes:

I am saddened to hear you feel compelled to reduce your posting activities although I entirely understand. If I had a dime to spare it would be yours, believe me. It is a source of great frustration and indeed shame for me that now, when we need it most, I have neither health nor wealth to contribute to the cause. For decades I trained and worked to be useful to the cause but by the time I realized just how bad things really were I was already circling the drain. If only I’d understood sooner. I have not led an exemplary life but my heart was in the right place, most of the time.

I hope all is well with you and yours and, again, I undertand your decision. I want you to know that you have made an important contribution to the struggle but family comes first. May God be with you.

Laura writes:

Thank you very much. I appreciate your moral support and wish you good health in the future.

This fundraiser has gone well and if I can meet my goal, I will not have to restrict my blogging activity.

N. writes:

Please keep up the good work.

Michael writes:

Thanks for everything. Please continue posting.

Don Vincenzo writes:

I was saddened by your recent posting, and I am sure I am not alone.

It is beyond my ken to understand the scope of the work that must be involved in putting your site together, and the costs in physical and financial terms that must be paid. And the disruption of family life could be added, too.

Regarding your future, my wife told me last weekend that our pastor, in discussing the breakup of the family following the death of our choir director, said that in these matters we really cannot see the hand of God, but the future of that unfortunate family is in His hands. In your case, I, too, will accept our pastor’s guidance.

David writes:

Although I am a confessional Lutheran, I read your blog and look foward to your posts everyday. Please continue your blogging. Your blog is amazing. I have passed it on to all my family and friends. Merry Christmas and God bless you and yours.

Victoria writes:

Thank you for all you do to keep me a ‘thinking housewife,’ and not a desperate one. Many blessings.

Ed writes:

I am very glad I made the cut for the “pizza” and that your fund raising is paying off.  Your site is a treasure though if I had more time I would be arguing religion with you more. The Thomas Bertonneau material you posted recently was a happy find for me–really good stuff. I’ve now tagged his site and am working Eric Voegelin into my reading list for the first time.

We’re having a pre-winter cold snap in the Pacific Northwest–freezing temperatures all day yesterday, today and tomorrow, and lots of new snow on the big Canadian peaks to the north.