(Edited 11/27/2023)

The internet, for all it has given us, we rarely see much love given to the long distance connections that are made, and stay connected.

From those I’ve met, would love to meet, and meet again, and how I’ve grown with them has helped me decide who I want to be around in person, as well.

All of them remind me to think more about who’s here celebrating my progress. Helping each other in every way we can. It helps to think of them over dwelling on the departed, and especially the lurkers.

You might be thinking of a few people now. Ones that you’ve grown close to that fit the title of a friend, not just an “online friend.”

All the joys, pains, and trust that are built are as real to us as the people we’ve gone to school with, worked with, even built romances with. There are the deviants on both sides, and it’s why you have to remain careful who earns that title, but let me keep it positive for now.

Enjoy all your pure and honest friendships, no matter how they began. In the end, none of us can and should make it alone.

D.F.