Pondering Electronic Friendship

Some of my best friends these days are people I have never met. People actually look at me a little strange when I talk so affectionately about my Blogger family, which now includes people in several countries and in multiple states in the US, most of whom I have never even met in person.

When I was on my recent trip, I delighted in the comments from this extended family, often sharing them with my traveling companions. If I didn't hear from a "regular" for a couple of days, I became concerned. I was deeply touched when two different people (Steve and Pauline) in the same day wrote posts triggered by something I had written.

I sometimes fantasize about getting everyone together for my 60th birthday or some other big deal occasion. For a split second, I wonder if we would like each other as much in person. Could we have created expectations about each other that would only be dashed in face-to-face contact? Then I remind myself that it would probably be so much better in real life, where we could have a round of hugs, share some good food (since we all seem to like to eat), and then have a slumber party where no one was allowed to go to sleep. We would never run out of things to talk about because we know so much about each other.

This post was all prompted by Steve, who welcomed me home, acknowledging that it was really no different communicating across continents thanks to the Internet, but "somehow I feel like I missed you." How can you miss someone you never met who is only in a different location? I don't know, but I totally understand and appreciate his sentiment.

My day started out with a coy comment by my PT Quentin, who announced he hadn't yet installed the gold fixtures when I came out of the bathroom this morning. For a moment I wasn't sure what he was talking about; then I remembered that Quentin had been reading my Blog while I was gone. The topic of conversation as Quentin worked on my right leg, hip, and foot was what it would be like to get a massage with chocolate massage oil, also prompted by the Paris chocolate expo. Another female patient and I both thought it would be yummy, but Quentin kept trying to decide if he would prefer bacon or popcorn flavor. Gross! I brought back chocolate massage oil and hope to report on this at some future time...

I have been talking to Reya for over a year about organizing a Blogger weekend, never imagining that it might include people from distant places, not just the DC Blogs community. What do you think? Could we actually make this happen?