I have been pain free for some years now.  I stay because this place litterly saved my life on more than one occassion.  I want to give back.  No one understands me better than this family of what I went through and may go through again if the beast finds my address again which could happen at any time.  I have met many people here that I care deeply about and have come to love and respect.  I do not want to abandon them in their time of need.  They have always been here for me.

anybody  remember last thanksgiving when i was laid over in denver? i sat there in the peterbilt nosed in to the idleair, hooked up to the service and poured out my feelings on that tiny touch screen they give you to use. as much as i love being by myself the holidays kinda get to me. wasn't five minutes after i posted i had 3 replies and 6 PMs. before the night was over i talked to at least 4 of you on the phone. the compassion was amazing. at that time i was 8 months out of cycle.

you guys remember when i had the honey bees in my wall? man i couldn't pay the kind of advice i received.  within a couple hours i went from knowing nothing about bees to well educated bee extractor. this board gave me the confidence to get rid of the bees and i didn't have to kill the queen. and i didn't get stung! 18 months out of cycle.

theres so many different kinds of people here from all over the world. i can't say one thing in particular thats kept me here but no matter whats going on i can get help here.

and to touch on what jon said. you can have some kind of headache crisis at 4 a.m. and post something and withing a few short minutes get a reply. even the lurkers will send you a PM. theres always somebody here that cares.

thanks 

I used to post here for a year several times a week, but somehow I never became a part of the crowd here. What I posted, was rarely answered.
No problem with that, but I resent that someone said ''some people are just not made of that stuff''.
I am and I did, and will try to contribute something worthwhile where I can.

maalstroom wrote on Sep 14^th, 2009 at 4:28pm:


you may not be a regular but you are certainly part of the crowd pascal.

  Quote:


Still can't get over how cool that name is. I tell my pals that I communicate with Jimi Hendrix over the internet and I know they think I'm back smoking doobies..


Lefty..!

Quote:


  Uh-huh...     right.

Pascal, there is no in-crowd here.  There ARE folks who have been here longer than you and have met up with each other at conventions or get-togethers so we DO feel close....but the only crowd of any importance is that we are family and almost everyone who's written something on this thread has said that.

You are part of our  family.

What made me decide to stay?  Well, it wasn't any one thing or one moment where I said to myself that I was staying.  It just sort of happened.

I've been here since Sept. 2000.

For me I came here to find help and I found you guys are more than that you are friends, family, support, docs when needed and just a shoulder and since I,m new here I can,t say thats why I stayed but I will say that I not going to leave because I found help, some laughs, and friends

Mark, I hope you never leave!  I always get a laugh from your posts even when they are serious.  thanks.

Pascal,  What Linda said hits it pretty close.  There are a number of us who have met each other in person, and that makes a big difference.  I felt like an outsider for the first couple of years too, but after meeting some at Davcon1 there just was a bit of a change in relationship on the board.  Nothing changed as far as what was posted or replied, but I KNEW who it was that posted some of the time.  You have the disadvantage of distance and a pond in between, but you are as much a part of the family as any, and we would be the poorer if you left.

Jerry