Full Disclosure And Disclaimer Ad Nauseum While Regaining A Lost Domain

Full Disclosure And Disclaimer Ad Nauseam While Regaining A Lost Domain

This post is being published as part of an ongoing documentation process. I am still recovering from serious medical issues, including vestibular and visual complications, so the organization, formatting and presentation may change as my health and focus allow.

AI tools have helped me organize, format and preserve my thoughts, but the facts, memories, evidence, screenshots, timelines and lived experience are mine.

This is not intended to be a perfect final document. It is a public working explanation of what happened, why it matters and why I am still trying to regain PetRescuesByEmily.com.

For the last 16 months, I have been dealing with surgeries, vertigo, vision complications, COVID, exhaustion and recovery issues that completely disrupted my normal life and workflow.

Somewhere in the middle of all of that, I made one of the biggest mistakes a Geek can make.

I lost control of a domain name that mattered deeply to me and my family:

PetRescuesByEmily.com.

I want to be very clear about something from the beginning.

This was accidental.

I believed the domain had been renewed properly. Between medical issues, account updates, recovery periods, medications, vision problems and constant disruptions to daily life, I made a mistake.

I failed to properly renew the domain.

That part is on me.

What happened afterward, however, is why I cannot simply “let it go.”

PetRescuesByEmily.com was never just another domain name in a portfolio.

It was a website I created and maintained for my niece Emily and her rescue advocacy work. Over the years, the site became connected to animal rescue efforts, memorials, stories, educational resources, social media outreach and a growing online identity tied directly to Emily’s rescue community.

Emily learned and contributed to the site herself over time. I taught her portions of the process. Together, we built something meaningful.

When the domain was lost, another party acquired it.

That happens every day on the internet.

But what happened next is where this situation changed from an unfortunate mistake into something much more disturbing.

Instead of creating an entirely new website, the new registrant appeared to copy substantial portions of the structure, wording, mission statement and presentation style associated with our original website. Portions of the site continued to resemble a shell of the work we had built over multiple years.

To me, that crossed an important line.

There is a major difference between legally purchasing an expired domain name and copying the identity, structure and content associated with the original creators.

This situation became especially painful because it occurred during one of the most medically difficult periods of my life.

At several points, I honestly questioned whether it was time to walk away from web design and creative work entirely.

Then something unexpected happened.

AI arrived in a meaningful way.

Instead of pushing me further into the background, these new tools reminded me of something important:

I am not done creating.

In many ways, losing PetRescuesByEmily.com forced me to reevaluate everything — my websites, my goals, my health, my future and my creativity.

I realized I still have ideas worth building.

I still have stories worth telling.

I still have projects worth creating.

Most importantly, I still want to help the people and animals I care about.

I am sharing this publicly because I believe many people do not fully understand what can happen when a domain name connected to years of work, memories and identity is accidentally lost.

A domain name is not always “just a website.”

Sometimes it becomes part of a family history, a rescue effort, a creative identity and a deeply personal chapter of someone’s life.

I am still hopeful this situation can be resolved respectfully and cooperatively.

I am also hopeful that this difficult experience may ultimately lead to something larger:
better awareness,
better protections,
better communication
and perhaps even a stronger future built from one very painful mistake.

Today, this geek is MaggieTheGeek and there’s so much more to say!