Friends

I have written about on-line friends before in other places, but not here, so I will tonight.

I have heard many say that you can't form real or even lasting bonds with people you have never met in person, and I do disagree. Maybe a few years ago I would have subscribed to that, but not anymore. I do have a few on-line friends who I have never met, and perhaps will never meet. I have some that I feel a strong bond to, for no real reason, there was just a connection. To discount these friendships or treat them as trivial would be wrong. Through blogs in particular the computer breathes life into words. It forms the inner workings of a person, a depth of knowing that is perhaps missing in all relationships today.

I spent two years chatting on-line to a lady and I would say that I probably know her better than her closest real life friends. Why? Because all we had were words. Thoughts and feelings shared on a computer screen. To spend any time in someones blog or chat space must lead to a certain amount of 'knowing' that person. Certainly, you know of me as much as I care to put into words, but I am sure my fellow bloggers would agree, that you do invest your whole self into this. You need to know an amount of personal information about me and my life for you to become invested in reading this drivel.

Tonight a tragic event struck one of my on-line friends. We haven't spent a lot of time chatting, but, and this is difficult for me to describe to you, I feel a closeness to her and a need to protect her. I really can't even tell you why I feel this way. There is just something about her that makes me want to keep her from harm. I don't know what this bond is that I have with her, but I know it is special. For me to hear what happened in her life tonight shattered me. The need to reach out and hold her, and the knowing that all I have is a keyboard, is frustrating at best, heartbreaking at worst. My thoughts are with you.

In this day when it seems that no one wants to reach out and let someone, anyone, know that they are struggling, a keyboard can be a saviour.

I will say again, I have a phone and I will call you any time. To you my dear sweet friend, and to all my on-line friends, I am part of your support team. Never be afraid to ask.