Today I am going to skip my usual participation in the Five Minute Friday linkup.  What’s that, you might ask, if you’re just joining us?  Well, a prompt word is provided to get the writer’s juices flowing, and everyone is encouraged to write for five whole minutes without worrying about getting it just right.  However, today of all days, that is not necessary as I know EXACTLY what I would like to write about, and it will be perfect … because of the subject!

Friends For A Lifetime!

That’s right!

Seventeen years ago, I ventured onto a website that would change my life forever.  I had seen the television network on my satellite and had started watching it.  One day an advertisement was on for the Lifetime Lounge.  I thought, “What in the world …”  Curiosity got the best of me, and so it wasn’t long before I was going to my computer to enter that website to find out exactly what this place was all about.  Little did I realize at the time that my entire life would be changed by going into that website that very day.

At first I was shy and just sat back to read the exchanges.  When I felt brave enough, I jumped in with the conversation.  Feeling as if I never quite fit in when I was in school, I was not even sure anyone would respond to my posts in there.  I was easily ignored and looked over in real life, so I did not expect it to be any different in a “virtual world.”  Much to my surprise, though, not only did people respond, but at one point I seemed to be one of the most popular people in there.  I was surprised when later one of the ladies told me that she was feeling so good about herself because I ~the popular one in her eyes~ acknowledged her, too.  Wow.  We were both feeling this in our personal lives – ignored, overlooked, of little value and worth, unpopular, neglected, and unloved~ and here, in our virtual world, we mattered!  A lot!  We were accepted, we were loved, we were valued!

We started having deep conversations about some really important matters in our lives.   Over time, we began to share more about our lives, our struggles, and before you know it, we took our conversations from a very public forum into private emails to share the depths of our hearts and minds with each other.

The day I ventured into that virtual world changed my life forever … in the absolute most positive way!  Little did I know that by clicking on this website I would make friends for a lifetime IN the Lifetime Lounge, no less.  🙂  It’s true, though.  It happened.  We are forever cemented to each other after all that we shared!

Although the website was primarily for women, there were a few brave men that ventured into the site as well out of curiosity.  They saw the craziness of these womenfolk and decided to stay.

Oh the conversations were serious, but there was also some very silly times in there as well.  It was the MOST FUN, too!!!

We laughed … we cried … we bonded.  We became sisters and brothers of the heart.  Nothing is stronger than the bond you have with individuals that have come alongside of you through the good, bad, and ugly times in your lives.  That is exactly what happened, too, and 17 years later, these wonderful people are still by my side.

We have seen each other through some of the hardest things to have to endure in life.  From my divorce, to life as a now-single-mom and all the struggles that went with it, to my sister’s suicide and the horrible aftermath that survivors face, to my parent’s both being diagnosed with different types of cancers, to their treatment and recovery, to my remarrying, to my ruptured ectopic pregnancy that almost claimed my life, to the infertility issues and treatments I endured to conceive after losing one of my tubes, to the absolute best celebration this side of Heaven when my miracle baby was finally placed into my arms for the first time, to watching my babies grow up in pictures on the screen, to the struggles of having a teenage driver in the house, to being bullied on the job, to my grandmother’s two year struggle to stay alive and ultimately to her taking her final breath, to getting thrown from a horse and recovering from fractures, and from yet another broken heart … these precious people have been by my side the ENTIRE time encouraging me, supporting me, loving me, inspiring me, holding me up on many occasions when I felt as if I could not go on … they lifted me up and carried me right along with God.  Picture God cradling me in His arms as He is carrying me with many extra hands holding me right alongside of Him as these angels here on earth helped me through each and every hardship I have had to face in the past 17 years.

We have shared some good times in there.  Please know it was not all bad.  Not at all.  And I supported them as well, although I do not feel it right to share the struggles they have faced.  It is not my place, but I will speak freely about those of my own.

Today … ah, today, I will be traveling to meet these precious ladies that have been my lifeline through the years.  Yes, we are meeting for the very first time in 17 years of friendship.  These friends for a lifetime have no idea what they are in for today when we see each other face-to-face for the very first time.  Lots of hugs, lots of tears, and lots of laughter … that is what is in store this weekend.

And I thank God for my friends for a lifetime!