Crossing Over...

"Good Bye.  I love you.  Have fun today.  And don't end up in a freezer." ~Tony

I have written here for the better part of 5 years now.  And while I'd admit that my writing lately has been lacking both in optimism and frequency, I do still want to be here, if not just for the therapeutic nature, but for the feeling that all in my craziness and insecurities, I am not alone. Which is of course, why despite losing my independent domain name, and drastically seeing comments drop off, I am still (admittedly all but barely) writing and reading. Even more shocking is that there are those few who will always check in, and when they see nothing on the pages they wonder.... and sometimes worry... because in a weird way, indescribable to the non-blogging population, we are friends.

My mother calls it a new age pen pal.

Which is probably the best way to describe it.  It does propose and interesting dilemma though, when you quite literally throw you life out there for everyone to read, of who will stumble upon it.  Will they be truthful about who they are?  Will they judge me, or not understand my sarcasm?  Will they understand that I have an underlying curse to hold little nuggets of information in my head about random things, so when I say "I tried that" or  give a snippet of my life in a comment, I am not trying to know it all, but merely trying to relate.  Will they understand that behind this screen is a real person, with a real life, and while it's as unexciting as everyone else's life 90% of the time, my words here are my way of making it entertaining and preserving it for the day I am gone?

Which of course leads to the next dilemma... I am as real of a person as you. the reader. And at some point, the two may meet.  Forever ago, I met Stephanie.  In Boston for work, we planned to meet, on the 10th anniversary of Sept. 11th no less.  We met up, went to lunch, indulged in pastries, and had a very nice day together.  One of her co-workers had seen us at Cheers and commented that "It looked like we were old friends."  And in truth, it felt like it. We occasionally text back and forth, she checks on me when we get buried in snow, and I check on her when she's in a closet while the tornado sirens sound. We share an unhealthy love of Cadbury eggs. We have crossed that line... into reality... and I love that she is my friend from Texas.

Another blogger crossed over years ago, actually becoming employed where I work.  And while admittedly it was odd that she knew more about me walking in the door than most have learned in years, she is also my friend.  She respects the fact that while I am only a semi-private blog, I don't want the office knowing what I write here. And in return, I comment on her "paid for" posts, keeping her stats alive and depositing into her Paypal.  She is my friend everyday, online, and standing in line at the grocery store.

So when another blogger told me that she was to be in New England for the week I didn't hesitate to agree to meet her.   Which is kind of crazy when you think about it, because what are the odds that I would again have a good experience?  One of my favorite comments ever was from Drake on this post, which read...  

"So let me get this straight – you accepted tickets from an online blogger and instead of ending up in some fat guy’s freezer, you got a first class room with bedding that looks as if it can absorb entire bodies and take you to Narnia?
So. Jealous."

Which is why, as Tony kissed me good bye on Friday, he jokingly told me to not end up in a freezer. The plan was to meet about half way for both of us.  I had taken the entire day off as a much needed sanity day and while I was a bit nervous, was excited to finally meet up. Our lives had been very similar over the years, and it would be nice to put an actual face to her profile, different than the creative one she had had for the last few years.  She blogs anonymously, and I will respect that here as well.

We shopped, we ate, we talked.  It was like I had known her for years.  I didn't have to fill her in on the details, she already knew them. We talked about the kids, the ex husbands, the boyfriend, paying for college, and home renovations. Turns out we both needed this respite of goodness as both our lives have had more than our share of heartache lately. And as luck would have it, I also found the perfect wallet for myself at the Coach store, so win, win! The day wrapped up sooner than I had wanted (we only made it to 1/4 of the stores!) but she had a plane to catch and kids to get home to.  The whole ride home I just kept thinking how lucky I was to have had met her, someone I never would have met without this little chronicle of mine. I now have another friend on the West Coast.

Which is completely awesome.

Even more awesome than not ending up in some fat guy's freezer.