IRC goodbyes

It's always sad when we lose one of our friends, especially when they pass away unexpectedly. And it nearly always brings to mind our own frailties, pointing out that life is too short. But life has changed in the past 100 years, the past 20 years, or even the past 10. We are not only connected by the towns we live in, the places we go, our families, we are also connected in a virtual world as well. And while information is shared in a nanosecond, how many of us really know where to go to get information if or when something happens? Most of the time, we rely on instant messages or email to pass the word along. Right?

But how many of us have friends or family members who know us well enough to make sure the information gets out to all the right places?? Do you have an on-line life that your close ones don't know about? My apologies to my daughter in advance for using her as an example. I'm sure the last thing on anyone's mind is updating her on-line friends if something happened. But would that be her wish? Would she want certain people who are a part of her life that we don't know about to know? How would we get that message out? Or am I just being silly about on-line ""friends"" who are just someone to talk to when you have the time and they're not really friends in the true sense of the word. Am I the only one who considers on-line chatters "friends"?

If something happened to any of my online friends, would I find out? or would I be left to think they disappeared into cyberspace on me, never to be heard from again? I've had this conversation with several good friends, and I'm amazed that there isn't some way to take care of that. Let's face it and be honest, many of us have passwords on our computers, and it's not something we share with people. So many of our personal transactions take place online ... this is just one more thing to think about.

The other thing someone's passing brings to mind is this:
have you told the people in your life
--that you care about them?
--Do they know how you feel?
--that they're an important part of your life?
--that you'd miss them if they were gone?
Tell someone today. In fact, tell them every day.
We never grow tired of hearing it :)

I love you HUGS to everyone!

PS: maggiemay, you will be missed. Godspeed, RIP