As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.
And a very special thank you to our Guides (moderators), past and present, who kept our forums a happy place to be. You are the glue that held everything together, and we are forever grateful to you. Thank you aliceinwdw, Caldercup, MrsM, WillCAD, Fortissimo, GingerJ, HiddenMickey, CRCrazy, Eeyoresmom, disneyknut, disneydani, Cam22, chezp, WDWfan, Luvsun, KMB733, rescuesk, OhToodles!, Colexis Mom, lfredsbo, HiddenMickey, DrDolphin, DopeyGirl, duck addict, Disneybine, PixieMichele, Sandra Bostwick, Eeyore Tattoo, DyanKJ130, Suzy Q'Disney, LilMarcieMouse, AllisonG, Belle*, Chrissi, Brant, DawnDenise, Crystalloubear, Disneymom9092, FanOfMickey, Goofy4Goofy, GoofyMom, Home4us123, iamgrumpy, ilovedisney247, Jennifer2003, Jenny Pooh, KrisLuvsDisney, Ladyt, Laughaholic88, LauraBelle Hime, Lilianna, LizardCop, Loobyoxlip, lukeandbrooksmom, marisag, michnash, MickeyMAC, OffKilter_Lynn, PamelaK, Poor_Eeyore, ripkensnana, RobDVC, SHEANA1226, Shell of the South, snoozin, Statelady01, Tara O'Hara, tigger22, Tink and Co., Tinkerbelz, WDWJAMBA, wdwlovers, Wendyismyname, whoSEZ, WildforWD, and WvuGrrrl. You made the magic.
We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm. You made it all happen.
There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.
That said, PassPorter is not going away. Most of the resources will remain online for as long as we can support them, and after that we will find ways to make whatever we can available. PassPorter means a great deal to us, and to many of you, and we will do our best to keep it alive in whatever way we can. Our server costs are high, and they'll need to come out of our pockets, so in the future you can expect some changes so we can bring those costs down.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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Dh's grandma passed away on Friday. His mom is not taking it well. She spent just about every day for the last 7 years with her. So, now MIL wants to get a different job and move to Wisconsin with her sister or something. Dh and I realize this isn't the best time to be chaning her life and all, but we can't talk her out of it.
MIL has struggled to find a good paying job that last few years and her current job has cut her wages a few times over the summer. She has a PT Cruiser with a loan on it and has had to defer the payments, etc. Dh and I are worried that she can't financially support herself, but we don't know what to do about it. I mean, MIL is 58 years old, you would think she could manage her own life. Not that she will let anyone help her. She thinks she is being an inconvience.
She doesn't have any computer skills or anything and she is getting older, so I would imagine that finding a well paying job would be difficult at best.
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The only thing I can say is, dh's grandma was 81 and she had a stroke 7 years ago. She started rapidly declining 2 weeks ago, so mil had some time to get used to it before it happened. Maybe that is why she thinks she is ready to make a change in her working and living situation?
Unless you are currently contributing to your mother's support, I think she should make her own decisions and you should support her in them. If you are truly worried that her income is in adequate, and you can swing it, you could offer her some help. My ex and I were barely out of college when we had to begin to contribute to his mother's support. As a daughter-in-law, this was very difficult at times especially when we needed to tighten the belts and I felt, MIL should have also.
Not knowing exactly what her and her mother's financial situation was, she could have been taking on expenses related to her mother. Or if there was insurance, she may be a little better off now.
If she had been caring for her mother for 7 years, she may really need a change of scenery and this may be the best time to do it. She may also feel a loss about what to do with all her extra time. My kids are all now off at school and it takes some adjustment both when they come home and when they go back and they are probably much more independent than your grandmother was.
The best advice I could give you is to make sure you are careful about not making your DH feel like he has to choose between you and his mother.
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The best advice I could give you is to make sure you are careful about not making your DH feel like he has to choose between you and his mother.
I am not making him choose, I even offered to have her live with us, but he said he didn't think that would be a good idea. I think we just want to try and help her but we don't really know how.
Unless you are currently contributing to your mother's support, I think she should make her own decisions and you should support her in them.
How do you support someone who makes decisions financially that are not smart? Meaning, having a car that she really can't afford. I don't mean to sound mean, its just frustrating because dh and I do pretty well and MIL struggles and some of it is her own fault. A lot is just circumstances of getting divorced 17 years ago and basically getting nothing out of it.
her whole life has been wrapped around caring for others. the past 7 sound like she has been totally devoted to care. she may be experiencing a mid-life crises. two weeks isn't very much time to adjust to the loss of her mother. she could use some grief counseling. as for money, she comes from a generation where women weren't taught anything about money, in fact a good chunk of her life, she couldn't have a credit card in her own name or even a credit history. i'm 57. i had to educate myself about finances and really i'm still trying to learn. she is probably feeling her loss and wanting to be around her sisters. hopefully she will take some time to heal alittle before she moves.
You hit the nail on the head when you said that some of her issues are a result of her own choices. As much as we love family, we do have to allow them to make their own mistakes. There is nothing wrong with offering help, but you can not force her to accept it. As she is 50+ she can right well move to where ever she pleases...she needs support and love, that doesn't include complete agreement, just reservation of judgment. Offer assistance, but be prepared to be rebuffed, and always give unconditional love. If you are truly concerned about her ability with finances, offer to go to financial management courses with her at a local community center or offer to help her work out a budget. But realize that it really is her business.
Good luck...family is always the most difficult to help sometimes.
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