It is amazing how an online world can sometimes become more of a reality than the real world. I belong to such a world; most of us have never met, but somehow many of us have become friends in a way that , for some, often does not translate to "real" life. Beside our "board" communications, many of us talk on the phone, send emails, share pictures and talk about our day to day worlds…for me, these are the best friends I never knew and the brothers and sisters I never had.
I guess you could say our board is like a giant high school, only the students are much older; we have our principal – stately and intelligent; our nerds, who are the constant butt of jokes; our jocks and our cheerleaders…and then there are the rest of us who show up just to show up, earn a few marks and have a few laughs. It is our escape, our break from the day to day of our lives. We can fight, laugh, argue, joke around; be serious, or not too, depending on the day.
As with any group of friends, when one doesn’t show up for the party, we all begin to wonder what’s wrong. This happened with one in our regular little circle; one day, she just stopped. We all knew there had been some issues, but we didn’t know the extent. Fortunately and unfortunately, we just found out.
So this is really a letter to her.
Just so you know, my friend, you have never been far from my thoughts. I’ve been worried, and still am – just on a different level now. I miss your cracks and your insight, and I will keep you close by; maybe not physically, but near my heart, where you belong.
Even though I know it might be a while before you can join our little group again, understand that I look forward to that time, however near or far in the future that may be. Until then, know I keep you in my daily prayer (yes, I pray, and I don’t want to hear a word about it!), and if you ever need me, I’m not too far away.