Webwords

Most have taken place at restaurants. One started at a ferry terminal, one at an airport, and one at someone’s home. Each meetup has created lasting memories for me.

Back in 1998, when I first went online, the Web was a strange new place. Who were those people we talked to in newsgroups and elsewhere? You didn’t know who you might be communicating with online.

As I got to know people through posts and emails, I realized that they’re the same kind of people I’m in contact with in other situations except that we don’t all live in the same area. And by choosing a newsgroup or other forum to get involved in, we’re choosing to get to know people we have something in common with. Most likely, we have more in common than what we discuss in the group that brought us together.

I’ve now met people in person from a newsgroup, a Yahoo group, and a forum — more than once for each type of group. Typically, it takes a bit of time to adjust at first as we become accustomed to physical presences to go with personalities. The other people never look and sound exactly as we’d pictured. But once the conversation gets going, we talk like people who know each other. As we do.

Last month, I had the pleasure of meeting in person three people I got to know in a health support group back in the late 1990s. While I’ve spent time in numerous other groups since then, that group and its people are still special to me. We’re there to help each other — not just with a project or particular interest, but with our health and our lives.

I owe so much to these people for the knowledge and support I’ve gained from them. I value the friendships that started years ago and continue today. Ted, Mag, and Gary, thanks for the good memories and for the years of learning, helping, and playing we’ve shared.