Online Friends

I have been pondering this subject for days and trying to decide if I really wanted to say something about it. I think it is something that needs to be addressed. Let me give you a little background on me so you know where I am coming from on this. I am a housewife, my children are grown and I live out in the boonies where we don't have public transportation and everything is uphill. We also do not own a car. My big adventure is going to the grocery store on payday lol. Needless to say, I have few friends. I am not really a 'people' person and it takes me a while to get comfortable enough with other people to make friends. I thought that the internet would be a perfect solution for me. I could meet lots of people from all over the world and make friends with people I would, in real life, have no other way to meet. I have only met one person online who I consider a true friend and we have been friends for over 10 years though we have never met for real. I thought facebook would be a good vehicle for me, since I like to play different games and you have people who don't know you add you as a friend for the game. While I have met several, potential new friends this way, it hasn't been quite what I expected. It is disheartening to put a status update that is important to me and it just gets ignored. I realize that people do have their own lives and that most people have loads of friends that post constantly. I am not a big one for updating my status and I try not to clog anyone's feed with game crap or stupid little messages like I am eating or something because really, who cares right? One post in particular comes to mind, when I lost my darling little granddaughter and asked for prayers. A lot of my supposed 'best' friends didn't even say anything. It has been a surprise to me that some of the people I least expected it from, simply because we didn't know each other that well, were some of the most supportive. The same with the blog. Other than family, I have only had 2 friends comment about it at all. I do the best I can to comment to any friend's post that asks for prayers or asks for an opinion, because you never know when you are the only person they can look to and call 'friend'. I have always tried to be careful about 'offending' any of my facebook friends but those days are over. They can take me as I am or not at all. Up until very recently, I spent a lot of time with hurt feelings (which is stupid over facebook) because I felt no one cared enough to read my posts. They were perfectly willing to share cute little pics, after all, so I knew they were seeing me. I have decided though, that I will stick with the few friends who have proven themselves as friends and to hell with the rest. I refuse to spend any more time worrying about what someone online thinks of me. I know that I am a person worth knowing and that's what matters most. If you like me for me, I would love to have you as a friend. If you don't, then I really don't need you in my life. I have realized that facebook friends generally don't act like 'real' friends. Speaking for myself, I want deeper relationships than Facebook can provide, I want the whole give and take that you get from a real friendship. For those of you who are trying my method to prevent yourself from isolation, find a few near and dear friends who really care about you and the person you want to be. Find friends who encourage you and make you smile even when you are most down. One great friend is much better than 10 mediocre friends. I am saying this from personal experience, I wouldn't trade my friend Eamonn for the world! He helps me even when he doesn't know it and I know that if I ever need to talk about anything, he is there for me. We sometimes go for long periods of time without speaking but when we do, it's just like we never skipped a beat. Everyone needs at least one person that they can unload to, someone who has no stake in it other than your happiness. Also, I will say again, please feel free to comment, even if it is just to say 'I was here'. Although I love my family and appreciate their support, I would also like to know that there are other people reading as well lol.