Letter
from the Editor, April
2004
Welcome back to KotaPress! This is our fifth year in publication, and I can't believe we've been doing this for so long. For me, the "celebration" of our anniversaries here are completely mixed because they also coincide with the anniversary of my son's death.
Back in December 2003, when we last published new issues of our online Journals, we decided that we would take a couple of months to totally redesign the site, add features, etc., all in honor of the fifth year. Lots of things got in the way of that decision. My mother-in-law passed away bringing the grief beast back into our lives with a fresh set of teeth. Our commercial work picked up a bit. We a had a few psycho cyber-stalkers posting fake stories online about us and KotaPress, also had them attacking our servers and sending viruses with a vengence. I'm pretty sure I sunk into a deep depression over the fact that I'm "celebrating" the fifth anniversary of my son's death instead of getting him ready for kindergarten.
So here we are, April 2004, with new issues of our online Journals. Some new features to the site, but not the complete redesign we had planned. But I figure, at least we're still here! :)
This issue of the Loss Journal is full to the brim with content because things have been sitting in the que for several months now. I want to thank all of you for your contributions and your patience as we got things moving here. Don't know what I would do without Katie Smith who contributed several articles this issue -- has a few more coming next issue, too. Have to thank everyone in our online Kota Discussion Group because they, once again, gave us content for the Quotes column and the Q&A coulmn -- as well as a couple of the articles from individual parents, too.
Many thanks to the poets who have been so gracious about my closing down the Poetry Journal! Some of them have been contributing amazing, non-fiction poetry to that Journal for years. Now, I'm pleased to be able to integrate some of them here. The works we'll be including here from now on will be non-fiction, any genre, style, form, as long as it has something to do with grief and healing. Want to thank each of the poets who appear here this issue -- for being willing to share your works in this Journal now. And a special thanks to CJ Horn for her amazing photography as well as poetry!
There are lots of topics covered this issue, so surf through and read as you can and want. We have information for suicide prevention, an editorial of sorts about hospice, a kind of "how to" for being the friend of a bereaved person, a perspective about grief in the workplace, and so much more. We have a new book review and a new Poetry Therapy column, so check those out, too. There are a couple new additions to the Dictionary of Loss -- and sadly, to the Memorial Honor Garden as well.
As always, if you have feedback or reaction or questions, please be in touch. Hearing from the readers really helps me to connect to the reasons why we are still here, five years later, bringing you new issues of the Loss Journal.
Miracles to you,
Kara
L.C. Jones, Dakota's Mommy
Editor-In-Chief, KotaPress
This page is dedicated to Dakota
Born and died March 11, 1999
Author
Biography
Kara
is a freedom fighting guerrilla
artist who has recently
begun to henna everything
in site. Look out because
you might be next!!
