Online Friends

Several years ago someone told me that you can't really be friends with someone that you have never met in person.

That person was wrong. I have a group of friends online that are much better friends than those that I have known in person. We have shared each others ups and downs we have supported each other in life changing decisions and I can say that these friends truly care about me as much as I care about them.

Here is an example, in 2003 I was taken by ambulance to the hospital 50 miles away because I couldn't breathe. I was hospitalized for pneumonia, my right lung was completely full and they had to do surgery to be able to drain it. I almost died. Not one of my real life friends came to see me or even call the whole week and a half that I was there, but my online friends called every day to check on me and cheer me up. They took turns and kept each other informed, and those that were Reiki practitioners sent me Reiki daily.

In 2004 when I decided to move across country to be with a man that I had never met in person (but had known online for 2 years), they supported me in that decision and I was lucky enough to be able to meet some of them in person for the first time. BTW, we have been together for 4 years. I am not advocating moving across country to be with someone you met on the internet, I was fully aware of the chance I was taking.

Some of my online friends have chronic health problems. I send them Reiki, I look up information that can possibly help them, but more important, I try to be there for them as well as for all of my friends as they have been there for me.

Just because you have never met a someone in person doesn't make them any less of a friend than those you know in person. Think about it, what makes a friend?

Kudos to all of my online friends out there, you know who you are.