In the year 2008, if you tell people that you have “virtual friends” they hardly bat an eyelash.

If you said that 20 years ago someone might think you meant “imaginary friends” and they might consider the possibility of checking you into a mental facility (if you were over 10 years old). *LOL*

I don’t recall having virtual friends before last year (unless you want to count my pen pal that I had for 10 years as a child). Fast forward to the present…I never thought I’d have so many virtual friends until I joined an online forum that correlated to my hobby.

I was so nervous to join a forum. It was the first forum I had ever been on in my life and just like your first day of school it’s nerve wracking trying to fit in.  I was anxious to post comments on other people’s threads or post my own but when I finally got over that, I posted with ease and conversations flowed back & forth about the work we were showcasing.

Slowly I began to learn more and more about the people that were part of this “online community” and they slowly became more than screen names with 90×90 avatars photos. They became actual friends outside the discussion of our hobbies. I knew about their wives & husbands, their children, what they did for a living, and what they did on their weekends. I’d feel sad if they were sick, lost a loved one,  or if they were in a creative slump. On the forum we share a lot of our thoughts and personal feelings in between talking about hour hobbies and helping each other grow our talents.

Members of the forum would pop into my everyday thoughts when something would remind me of something they mentioned. Sometimes I really had to laugh when I would find myseld saying my friend Bob in the UK would like this!! or I have to tell my friend Cameron in Australia about this new XX I got, he’d be interested to know. It was a good feeling to have these people as an important part of my life. I’d mention them in conversations with family and friends they’d find it interesting that I had “friends” or “friendly contact” with people from all over the world… UK, Canada, Australia, India, the Bahamas, France, Austria, Poland, and all of the United States (from New York to California)…too many places to name.

Eventually some of the friendships carried over to into instant messenger and emailing and a few carried over to texting and chatting on the telephone. Recently, I found myself talking to a few of my “virtual” long distance friends more (or as much) as some of my local friends.

Not only did I have these “forum friends” I ended up striking up friendships with fellow bloggers that I met when going to their blogs and commenting…which trickled over into email conversations as well as over the phone when I needed help with the technical piece of my hobby. What a great network I was creating for my hobby/side business so I could continue to thrive with their help!

The big reason I decided to write this post, today, was because I was thinking about how much some of these virtual friends were really there for me during the worst 9 months of my life.  I realized how grateful I was to them in addition to my local friends.

When “THE-X” decided that he was unhappy with us last year I thought I would shy away from my forum, my hobby/side job, and my blogging and hide under the covers crying everyday but instead I gravitated toward my hobby, the forum and blogging even more because of the strong community that had my back!

I got more support, well wishes, cards, “thinking of you” emails, help, “I’ve been there” advice, etc. from these wonderful people then you could imagine.  I thought these pepole were so special that they deserved a special post dedicated to their friendship and my appreciation towards them. They would think of me and how I was doing during their day as I did of them.  They were true friends (even if I’ve never laid eyes on any of them in person)!  I hope to meet some of them one day so we could make a day of sharing our hobbies together.

Since I loved blogging about my hobby, so much, I decided that I’d like to make a personal writing blog.  Writing is something that comes easy to me and I’ve always enjoyed various forms of it through my life (poetry, stories, and a heck of a lot of letter writing with the 10 year penpal as child).

I was on the fence about creating this blog because I hardly have time for my full time job, side job/hobby, the forum, my blog dedicated to my hobby, taking care of my dog, and my house (which is for sale)! But ICan’tBelieveHowAlikeWeAre encouraged me to go for it and said that writing will really help me get through everything I was experiencing (and since she’s a master blogger and a great writer I took her advice).

I think an anonymous blog like this makes a great place to share my thoughts and feelings and a place to hear from others who are going through the same thing or have gone through the same thing (and can lend great advice). And what great advice they have given freely already! I’ve had this blog for only 1 week and I’ve received so many wonderful comments of encouragement that it’s been overwhelming! If I could lend advice to someone else going through the same thing as me that is just as rewarding!

I am and will be forever grateful to the virtual friends who were there for me the past 9 months and will continue to be there for me as I “start over” in my “new life.” I’m also grateful to have a place to hear from others who relate and care enough to take a few minutes to stop by and comment - THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart!