The Teardrop Nanny wrote: This is the place to look for your friends off season where they can announce a new grandbaby, or tell you about an upcoming cruise vacation, or share the loss of a loved one....or other life events and things of interest. Many of us spend hours around the campfire with these folks and the variety of subjects that come up is varied and often very lively.
TDN
Correct Joanie! I think that this forum is very different than a lot of others. Chances are, unless you are a total recluse, you WILL run across or come in contact with members from this forum, unless you totally avoid any of the numerous gatherings across the country. There are lots of us that have been here for fairly long periods of time, we have camped with each other maybe upwards of 15 times, seen many through medical issues, divorces, job losses,death and a number of life's other issues. Many of us have driven half way across the country just to see and meet others and enjoy the teardropping experience.
This forum is a microcosm of society, but we all have 1 interest....I don't like a lot of stuff that people say or what they think....but there is no point in publicly ripping them a new one. I've got family members that I don't agree with...I just forget it, I'm not going to change them. Life's too short to be mired down with those situations. Who knows what's going in that individuals life at that point in time to make them say something.
For me, most of my closest friends are on this forum and I am fortunate in that I get to see/ visit with them regularly. Just today, I had a great conversation with a fellow camper that I don't see but maybe twice a year at the max and we both had a great laugh and talked about this coming summers campouts and how he had to dress up as Santa for his grand kids school.
Lots of us who know each other, ask each other about their mom or dad, or which college accepted their kids when we have a phone call. I just think we are a bigger "family" than some members may realize. It's more than just being an internet forum.....Doug