Dooce - YouLookFab Forum

I was just devastated to learn of Heather Armstrong's death yesterday. I wonder if there are any other fans of her blog, Dooce, among our YLF community? She was considered the original "mommy blogger" but it was not sweetness and crafts, believe me! Dooce was the first blog I really followed, and I fell in love with the style of writing and publishing, the intimacy of blogger and reader, and specifically I fell in love with Heather Armstrong and her headstrong, hilarious, raw and honest way of sharing her life. She, like Angie, posted every single day at the height of her popularity.

Her death, and life, was well covered by many media outlets yesterday. She struggled desperately with depression, which led to alcoholism, anorexia, and eventually suicide. She left behind the two daughters to whom the entirety of her work was a love letter.

I can't find any of her early work online, which is a shame. I had not been following her much in the recent years that she really descended into this dark time, but I read quite a bit of her current writing last night and it was heartbreaking.

She was a beautiful woman, and very stylish. I have a necklace that she wore in one of her posts, from an artist named Kristen at Minoux Jewelry in Portland, OR. It is 5 delicate hoops of silver on a chain. It was called "Circle of Friends" and I gave it as a gift to many friends over the years while Kristen still sold it. It feels symbolic. I just sent a note to Kristen....

Amazing how deeply some people who we never meet can touch our lives. Sending out love and life-affirming gratitude for the YLF circle of friends.

1 year ago

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

I remember the blog. May Heather Armstrong rest in peace. Utterly tragic. Wishing her loved ones strength through this gutting time,

Style Fan

Veteran

How tragic. I will look up the blog.

LJP

I saw this on a few different media sources today but admit to having no idea who she was . Very sad though .

bella

I am so sorry to hear this. I used to read her blog years ago (before she divorced her husband) but hadn't really looked her up in a long long while. How tragic and difficult for her daughters.

Helena

I wasn't familiar with her but did see the story in the news ... So very sad.

RobinF

I also heard this yesterday but wasn't familiar with her. Very sad. My heart goes out to her children especially.

Laurie

Some of the tributes have included links to her archived entries. Its weird, I just feel a need to share more about her for those of you who didn't read her blog.

Here's a typical entry from 2009, written to her now-19-yr- old daughter, on her 5th bday: https://web.archive.org/web/20.....onth-sixty

This article from 2011 captures Dooce in her prime, I remember every thing and person it refers to:

https://www.nytimes.com/2011/0.....referringS

MsMary

It's just heartbreaking. The whole dooce.com archive appears to still be online. I just read Marlo's birth story again and it brought me to tears. RIP, Heather. You fought really hard for a very long time.

Janet

Oh no! This is the first I’m learning of it (been a bit out of the news loop this week). I do remember her blog. This is very sad.

Barbara Diane

I hadn’t heard of her. The entry on her daughter’s 5th birthday is so touching and funny and real. What a loss.

judy

I came back to edit my post here as what I had written just wasn't sitting well with me. I was a reader of her blog and appreciated her artistry with words, and her photos too. Wishing her and her family so much peace.

April

WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show did a very moving appreciation this week: https://www.wnyc.org/story/remembering-dooce/

Thank you, April. His guest wrote a good article:

https://jopiazza.substack.com/.....define-you

Thank you for the links!

Anne

Active Member

I was sorry to hear about this. I was an early reader and she had been on my radar screen since, but most notably over the last several years for her very public downward spiral on social media that was both frustrating and sad to watch. I feel as though her kids have probably been through a lot in the last 3-5 years as she struggled, and my heart goes out to them that they've lost their mother and any hope that she might beat her demons, plus having to deal with the emotional aftermath of suicide and death in general. The whole situation is sad on so many levels.

10 months ago

I'm reading both of her books off and on - the one about childbirth and her post-partum depression, and the one about the sedation treatment that she tried to treat her depression. It's hard to believe she's gone - I can't imagine the impact on her girls, especially since she expressed so powerfully and beautifully and prolifically and publicly her love for them.

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