The best friends I’ve never met

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One of the biggest blessings in life is to have great friends. Family is something you are born into but friends are family that you get to choose. At least, that’s how I’ve always viewed friendships in my life. Because of this, I’ve never been the one to be friends with anyone and everyone. It’s all about quality than quantity with me. Funny thing is, I’ve had to open up that thinking once I started becoming more active online.

As much as I love my “flesh and bone” friends, most of them aren’t in the head space, or life space, that i’m in. They are just now settling into commited relationships or marriages while I’ve been a wife and mother for years now. It’s always fun to get together with them and get updated on their lives but because of where we all are in life, I tend to be the person giving advice, rather than asking for it. As much as you may love helping your friends, it’s always nice to have someone to ask for a valued opinion about what you are currently going through. This is why i’m so glad I discovered forums of like-minded moms, frugal mavens and just plain cool chicks I admire.

One of the first places I was able to find kindred spirits was on the now defunked MSN money message boards. Those ladies were tough, smart, funny and knew their stuff. They were also Moms, pet owners, passionate about their families and careers and beyond supportive. A few of them became of the best women I had ever known, even though I hadn’t ever seen them face to face.One friend in particular, Sue, has even become the kids’ “Auntie Sue” since she always sends them wonderful cards and cute little gifts around birthdays and holidays. She’s wonderful and a great source of support and inspiration for me. And no, we’ve never met or talked on skype or the phone. Weird? Maybe. But the fact that i’ve never seen her in person doesn’t make her any less of a friend to me.

My newest place to find some great new friends is twitter. I’ve been so adverse to getting into tweeting because it always seemed so overwhelming to me. I realized that your “circle of friends” can be as little or large as you make it by “following” only those people who you would like to have conversations with and that’s all. Since then, I have been hooked. I’ve learned so many things from so many people, and because it’s in real time, if I’m having a bad day or need immediate advice, I can have a response right away from one of my friends. It also means I can provide my own support to others as soon as they request it. I could not have survived this past summer and all of the preparing I’ve been doing for deployment without them. They provide laughs, virtual hugs and when the mood strikes, someone to “watch” bad TV with on those nights you feel like watching a show with a friend.

So, I just wanted to give some appreciation to those friends I haven’t met face to face, those friends that have been there for me without seeing the actual tears in my eyes or the bad hair I had that day. So thank you to Sue, Beth, Lucky, Erica, A’Driane, Zoe, James,and Kimberly, just to name a few. You ladies make me laugh, make me think and make me feel a part of something. Always know that you are special, and that you are appreciated by more than just little ol’ me.

As for my readers, I’d love to get to know all of you even more! If you haven’t yet, hit me up on twitter and let’s have a conversation. It would be an honor to get to know you and maybe become a support to you like the ladies above were a support to me. Talk to you soon!