As the year comes to an end, I feel reflective (not like the lights on your running shoes).

The one thing I think about time and time again is the influence the online message boards and forums have had on my life.

My "online life" only began when I came to Canada almost 8 years ago.
At first I joined a South African chat site where ex-pats would congregate and wax lyrical about all things South African.

Then I made "real friends" with other immigrants, and that was how I was introduced to Scrapbooking, which in turn led me to the vast world of Message Boards, and Forums, and Kit Clubs and Circle Journals, Blogs and R.A.K's (Random Acts of Kindness.

The people I got to know on these forums and blogs shaped my life over the last 8 years, to a large extent.

For the longest time I was happy just having "computer friends".

The good news is that many of those "www friendships" morphed into real relationships.
Of course, as is the case with real life, a few of those relationships (real and online) crashed and burned; some held steady and then slowly died off; some faltered and then self-corrected; some went off track only to be dragged back on again, and some endured...long and faithfully.

Through it all though, I am grateful for those online friends, and real ones too, who have passed and stayed through and in my life.

Here's wishing every single person who stops by here for a read, a very happy and prosperous 2009.