How Online Friends Changed My Life

Online Friends Can Become Lifetime Friends

I met one friend online that lived several thousand miles from me. We met through an online game. He would listen to my frustrations and trials of my failing marriage. After the divorce, we met in person. We remained friends for a couple years before time and distance engulfed the relationship. The relationship was special to me because it offered me a chance to talk to someone almost daily about what was happening. He was tremendous support and understood my situation.

I began talking in online chat rooms after my divorce. I wanted to connect with other people without having to go out to bars or other areas for the single life. It had been a long time since I dated and the thought petrified me. At the same time, I felt lonelier then ever after my divorce and wanted to be able to socialize. A friend suggested I talk to people online in chat rooms.

While in a chat room of local people in my area, I began talking to one man that had caught my eye on the screen. We talked one night in the chat room. The following day, he instant messaged me. We ended up talking every day after he got off of work. After hours of talking online to one another, I agreed to give him my phone number. We then started chatting both online and the phone. After a couple of months, we met in person at a public fast food. Our friendship turned into a dating relationship. One year after we met, we were engaged and now are married. People often laugh when we tell them how we met but it worked for us.

I have met several friends online through the writing communities. Even though we primarily talk about writing and topics associated with the forum, I have found that these friendships are important to me. As people talk online, it is only natural to start to learn more and more about each other. Over time, these conversations lead to a trusting friendship. These friendships are important to me because they are other writers that can relate to the frustration of writer's block or the disappointment of rejection letters. They understand when I don't have time to write back or when I write them an email that is the length of a book.