Most of you have heard me refer to this group at one point or another and you probably don't *really* get what/who they are. In 1997 we all (I think there are about 80 of us left) joined a Yahoo group called Oct 1997. The meaning of this was that we were all pregnant and had due dates of Oct 97. We had only one thing in common then: our due dates were in October - since then we have come to know all sorts of things in common. (and a lot of us didn't deliver in October) I think I joined in July sometime - a lot of them joined earlier. An email group is one where when you write to the addy of the email group it then goes out to all members. We started out as a public group - meaning anyone could join and after a year we closed the group - because 1. We feared no one just joining would be able to "catch up" and 2. We had become so close that we were sharing things that we didn't feel comfortable with "strangers" knowing. We have been together for almost 11 years now - emailing daily about EVERYTHING. We've had battles over breast vs bottle, homeschooling vs public, democrat vs republican, hospital birth vs home birth, you name it - we've covered it. Some drift off and on in times of heavy activity in real life and then check in again when we have time.
We've been through the death of still borns, miscarriages and a special little boy who managed to make it 5 years before cancer took him from us. I say that almost in passing - but believe me each one has a name and means a LOT to the list - it wasn't/isn't in passing that we think of our lost angels. Our members are all over the nation along with France, Holland, and the Netherlands being represented. We've had divorces and tales of brutality. And we've rejoiced in all of our good things and especially our other births that came later.
We face more opposition - we have two members with cancer and one with a fairly extreme heart situation. The members taking a break have all been summoned and are checking in to show their support. We all feel helpless and desperately want to be with the ones afflicted but distance stands in the way. We write notes of encouragement and tell them we're with them in spirit - we light candles and say prayers. Times like these we feel like men - wanting to "fix" it. Wanting to use our strength and make *it* go away. I find it particularly interesting that we band together - that we rally the troops and bring in our "lost" to help defend our stricken members. We are true soul sisters. When I pray with S at night I always think about my sisters and mentally bless them and send them healing thoughts.
You may think this a very trivial group - but it isn't. These unseen women - even though we've posted pictures and exchanged Christmas presents and year books - have changed my life in drastic ways. I've been forced to look at things from many points of view. I've had the advantage of being "well traveled" without leaving my house. ;-) I've become a better mother by being able to vent about things with them and having new ideas given to me from different walks of life. My spiritual side has been strengthened and opened, by people who I probably would never come into contact with in real life.
They mean the world to me and I'm amazed how deeply I feel about people I've never met face to face. All my love, cyber sisters - and THANK YOU!
We've been through the death of still borns, miscarriages and a special little boy who managed to make it 5 years before cancer took him from us. I say that almost in passing - but believe me each one has a name and means a LOT to the list - it wasn't/isn't in passing that we think of our lost angels. Our members are all over the nation along with France, Holland, and the Netherlands being represented. We've had divorces and tales of brutality. And we've rejoiced in all of our good things and especially our other births that came later.
We face more opposition - we have two members with cancer and one with a fairly extreme heart situation. The members taking a break have all been summoned and are checking in to show their support. We all feel helpless and desperately want to be with the ones afflicted but distance stands in the way. We write notes of encouragement and tell them we're with them in spirit - we light candles and say prayers. Times like these we feel like men - wanting to "fix" it. Wanting to use our strength and make *it* go away. I find it particularly interesting that we band together - that we rally the troops and bring in our "lost" to help defend our stricken members. We are true soul sisters. When I pray with S at night I always think about my sisters and mentally bless them and send them healing thoughts.
You may think this a very trivial group - but it isn't. These unseen women - even though we've posted pictures and exchanged Christmas presents and year books - have changed my life in drastic ways. I've been forced to look at things from many points of view. I've had the advantage of being "well traveled" without leaving my house. ;-) I've become a better mother by being able to vent about things with them and having new ideas given to me from different walks of life. My spiritual side has been strengthened and opened, by people who I probably would never come into contact with in real life.
They mean the world to me and I'm amazed how deeply I feel about people I've never met face to face. All my love, cyber sisters - and THANK YOU!
1 comment:
awww - sniff! Well stated.
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