Hands across the net

When a small private plane carrying Stephanie Nielson, a young mother who lives in Mesa, Ariz., crashed in eastern Arizona three weeks ago, Katja Muggli, a graphic designer in Munich, said she felt as if there had been a tragedy in her own family — and in a virtual way, there had been.

Ms. Muggli, 34, has never met Ms. Nielson. But as a blogger and single mother, she was an avid follower of Ms. Nielson’s blog, the NieNie Dialogues. The site, a diary of home life that she started in 2005 for close friends and family, had attracted a small but ardent following, thanks to its upbeat dispatches about marriage, home décor, entertaining and the art of raising four children ages 6 and younger. To her admirers, she was Supermom.

“Stephanie always inspires me,” Ms. Muggli said in an e-mail message, adding, “she always pushes me to do more.”

That was then. Now, Ms. Nielson, 27, and her husband, Christian, 29, are in a Phoenix hospital burn unit. Mr. Nielson sustained burns over 30 percent of his body. Ms. Nielson has burns over 80 percent of hers. On Friday they were in critical condition.

Since the accident, bloggers have joined with Ms. Nielson’s siblings to organize more than 350 online auctions on their sites. As they sell bridesmaid dresses and baby shoes, the fund-raiser may surpass $100,000, family members said.

Please take a moment to read this article, and if you can, bid on WendyB's necklace. Her jewelry is amazing, and the cause is worthy.