Sometimes I wonder what it was that used to fill my time, the days before I was online. I was a senior in high school when I first signed up with AOL, and heard those infamous words, "You've got Mail." I didn't care it took 10 hours to load, I just wanted to see if my dad (the only other person I knew online) had sent me a message. It was just cool, and I had this sense, then, of infinite possibilities. I didn't know exactly what they were, but I felt it, none the less. Skip ahead to now, and sometimes I worry that one day I will regret all this time I spend in front of a computer screen. All the fresh air, people watching, talking to neighbors, and just all around real life, that I am missing whenever I am in front of my computer. Of course, I do those other things, but not as much as I could. As much as I enjoy, even fiend, being connected, sometimes, I wonder if it's good for the soul. Luckily, I have this one discovery, that makes all of it worth while, my friend Emma. Emma, my friend from Australia, whom I've never even seen, except in a photo, is one of my favorite people in the whole world. We met completely by accident. I say that because I am so not the type of person to seek out friendships or any kind of relationship online. The fact that I even joined a pen pals site to begin with, is so not my style. For whatever reason I did, and I even returned to read a message from Emma. This was a couple of years ago, (I think) and since then, I have come to appreciate her so incredibly much, no one could even understand. She gets me, completely, and I get her. We just like each other, and there is nothing about her that could ever bother me, she just rocks. We are two totally different people with different personalities, but we just click. We have regular instant message chats, well as regular as we can, and have even spoke on the phone a handful of times. (I love her Aussie accent). Our conversations are full of laughing and the "F" word, just the way we love it. I always have the biggest smile on my face when we finish our talks. I can't really explain what it is, but I'm just so grateful to have met her. I can't ever say my time was wasted online, because if it wasn't for the internet, I never would have met her. We hope to, one day, be able to actually meet, face to face, and get our hugs in, meet the hubbies, and have our kids hang out...one day. But until then I'm just glad to have someone in this world, get me the way she does. Isn't that what life is all about? It should be.

xoxo ;)