Your Online Friends??

[Beemerboy]

I just learned a few hours ago that an online friend that I have posted on another forum with for 5 years...died from a massive heart attack over the weekend....

It sort of made me realize that we are friends of a different sort with this online stuff....none the less it still bothers me.

[Scott P]

A couple years ago, a guy that I "knew" through ESPN Fantasy games died. I never met the guy and pretty much only spoke to him in chat or via message boards or IM. I didn`t think I could be affected by the death of someone I never met face to face, but I was. He was a young guy too and left a couple kids behind. :(

[Beemerboy]

A couple years ago, a guy that I "knew" through ESPN Fantasy games died. I never met the guy and pretty much only spoke to him in chat or via message boards or IM. I didn`t think I could be affected by the death of someone I never met face to face, but I was. He was a young guy too and left a couple kids behind. :(

I got you on that one...I was about the same with this guy...we talked on the phone a couple of times but that was years back...mainly online...still just an odd feeling that someone that you have never met seems like a online family

[audiboy]

First off, I would like to say that I`m very sorry to hear that you lost a friend today. I hope his passing was painless and I pray that his family will be alright without him.

On one of my other forums, there is an Off Topic crew. It`s a car specific site, but most of us have gotten rid of the car that the forums target. Most of us just hang around the Off Topic forum and through meets and get togethers, a bunch of people have met each other. In a way, we are like a big dysfunctional family. A little while ago, one of the members lost her long and tiring fight to cancer. If you had been on the boards for a year or two, you knew who she was. I never had the opportunity to meet her, but she had always been a very nice and inspirational person on the forums. She left behind a young child and a husband. I quoted a short and simple message from the thread that talks about her passing because of the truth it bears:


It`s amazing how hard peoples deaths hit you even though you`ve never met the person besides online.

Online forums are really a funny thing if you think about it. A group of people from all over the world talk about similar interests and inevitably learn about each other, care for each other, meet each other, and some become best friends. I`ve never met anyone from these forums, but I do feel like I know a few of you relatively well.

[norahcrv]

Even though I`ve only met one member from here "in person", I feel really close to some & we`ve been through some rocky spells & some times of great joy. :cheers:

Isn`t it wonderful how we can be so close to folks we`ve never met, to such a degree that we can feel their pain & celebrate their triumphs? :bigups

Thank you Dwayne for starting this forum & creating the kind of environment that has fostered that "family feeling" & thanks to Troy & Sheila for carrying it on. And a big :thanks to our sponsors who help to bear the financial load with our "generous contributions" every time we hear the words "SALE" or "NEW" ;)

[budman3]

It`s sad to hear about your online friend Beemerboy. I have been visiting forums for about 4 years now and I have gotten to know a lot of people, especially here on DC. I have only met Dwayne and Troy from this forum but it seems like there are many people here that are good friends... I wish everyone a safe and happy summer :)

[Jngrbrdman]

I consider Dwayne to be one of my closest friends, and yet I`ve never met him face to face. There have been a few times where he or I have dropped off the radar for several days or a couple weeks and the other has been on the phone trying to figure out what has happened. I`ve had online friends in the past who have disappeared and nobody knew what happened. In one case it was a couple years before he resurfaced. Everybody thought he had died. lol Turns out it was worse. He got married and his wife didn`t like sharing time with the internet. :lol:

[cwcad]

I know how much an on line friend can make an effect on a person. Have met two of the most delightful people thru this forum. I am proud to say that they are friends of mine.

Also as an aside to fighting a cancer I have to tell the forum thru this post that I have been fighting tongue cancer for the last five months. I am ten days away from completing my treatment of chemo and radiation.

I have been rather weak these last months. But I have been reading the forums almost daily. Just did not have the strength to post.

I can honestly say that this forum and its members have helped me thru this time in my life. I look forward to reading posts everyday.

Beemerboy, I feel bad for your loss but understand it completely. This forum has a whole host of good members and I consider many of them as a personal friend wether I have met them personally or not.

[norahcrv]

CW - Glad to hear you`re on "the home stretch" of your treatments!! :pray:`s for a clean bill of health for a very long time!!

And the same for all the others out there who are fighting these battles . . . especially the children!! :pray: :pray: :pray: