Family & Home

Live with intention
Walk to the edge
Listen hard
Play with abandon
Practice wellness
Laugh
Risk love
Continue to learn
Appreciate your friends
Choose with no regret
Stand by your family
Celebrate the holidays that make sense
Lead or follow a leader
Do what you love
Love as if this is all there is.

I wasn't gonna write a blog don't know where to begin. I am not very good with words like the rest of them are. I am one who is more hands on in Life than with book smarts or words. I speak with my actions and heart. I do have to say that Chats have been a Big Deal in the most difficult parts of my life. When my Ex GF was in Iraq and I was left alone in another State away from family and friends. That was the longest 18 months of my life. If it wasn't for the internet I would have been committed somewhere. That was also the same year my dad told me he had lung cancer was a great Bday present for me. I did stray away for awhile not sure why.
I have been coming to USA chat only since January but they all have made me feel comfortable here. Like I have been here for yrs. I have been having my ups and downs this yr and the great friends i have met here have kept me going strong. They make me feel like i belong and never to give up. With all the encouragement they give me i never will.

Well to put it in a nutshell i love is place and all the ppl they know who they are that i would take the shirt off my back for , in more ways than one LOL. I am just happy to be a part of it, my family is like get off that damn thing i laugh LOL. I tell them to join, they laugh lol. I have told friends about it and have a couple that come in. Even when not here i talk about how much this place has helped me and how great most ppl are here. Not Kissing ass either just how i feel.
Peace and kisses to all the great chatters.

What is the nature of friendship? The sheer complexity of this question has occupied me for years. I've been at USAChatNow for 5+ years now, heading towards 6, and I have had umpteen numbers of conversations on this very subject. For one, I know there is a certain group among you all that thinks that friendship online is different than friendship offline. To that I ask, can you define the difference to me? I know that when I name a person friend then I am no less concerned with their lives and how they are doing than I am with my "real life" friends. Mother in the hospital? I pray for her and you. Dog missing? I ask how the search is going. Having no luck finding a job? Would you like me to help with the search? I don't need to touch your skin in order for you and yours to have a place in my mind and heart. I have seen people come and I have seen people go at this site. Many have claimed to be true friends and then drop off the map after finding what they wanted, whatever that is despite hours upon hours of late night conversations while they were sobbing because their heart was just broken again and the inevitable "how on Earth am I ever going to find someone?" talks. Part cheerleader, part counselor, all friend. I've seen "friend" betray "friend" over the silliest of things. I can't tell you how many times I've heard "this time is the real deal, I'm in love". So if you can never be truly certain whom is a "true" friend and those that just mouth (or type, as the case may be) the words, then how can you really tell? Who is that one that will always hold out their hand whenever you fall when all others disappear despite saying they'd always be there for you? C'mon,you all know whom I'm talking about. Maybe not whom I may be specifically talking about but someone has done it to us all. So what is the answer? What is the Litmus test? So far I've only found one that works for me. Consistency. as you go through chat or life, simply look around you and spot the people in your life that are consistently there when things go wrong for you. Some people are there to help you every time and some are there mainly when it's convenient for them to be. Time after time. People that you watch screw over others again and again, it's merely a matter of time before you're next. Take a long hard look at those around you. Adding you to Facebook isn't the truth behind friendship. Don't think you're "besties" just because you got their phone number and text each other 50 times a day. The ones that step forward without thought of gain. Those that drop everything to reach out to you when you need them. They are the ones worth keeping to the end. It takes a little while to account someone to be a real friend. It takes effort. But to me, there is nothing like the effort made returned to you. It's cliche to say there is nothing quite like a true friend but honestly there really isn't. Can you identify those people around you? It may be worth taking a look around you at who is and isn't real. This site has been fabulous to me. Met many fine people. Some that will be my friend for the rest of my life. Some I'd rather forget. But I know the ones that are consistently there whenever I need them. I'm sure you can find them too if you look. And if you want to become a True friend then all you have to do is do what you say you will and just let your friends know that you'll stand with them at the Gates of Hell, by yourself if needs be. Well, that's just what I think.

I have spent a substantial amount of time perhaps too much time, contemplating the current social structure. For over 10 years I have observed the changes in this system and it makes me wonder. I am forced to wonder where we are headed as a “community”. I have many friends in my ‘community’. By community, I mean in my immediate neighborhood, neighboring neighborhoods, across my state, in other states, in other countries, both in person and online. I have in my 40 something years accrued hundreds of really great friends, some of which I would and could depend on in a moment’s notice, reciprocally. I notice I tend to surround myself with people living similar situations, all of us, never having ample time to get together face to face. We are busy parents of busy children living busy lives. All of us focused on living well, doing well, being well. Busy bringing up tomorrow’s leaders, right in our own homes. Our children are learning things years before they should, years before we could have. I remember Sunday dinners at grandma’s house. I remember holidays with family. I remember playing with the neighbor’s kids after school until the street lights came on. I remember the occasional late nights out playing flashlight tag with all the kids in the neighborhood. I remember driving to another state for thanksgiving with aunts and uncles. I remember a true sense of a living, breathing, touching community. I see many changes in this social system, some make me wonder exactly how it will turn out and some just make me worry. Our children are very driven, very educated, taught to be amazing adults but there is a cost. That cost is community. That cost is their childhood. I see many children in school all day, sitting at a desk all night. They struggle to find time for themselves let alone for others. Our children do the best they can with the little social practice they are exposed to. Unfortunately, not all exposure is beneficial. Some children have greater insecurities and/or challenges regarding social graces which were so important when we, their parents grew up. This generation, perhaps, the first of the generations dealing with the social withdrawal we see going on in the world. I heard it said once, a few years back, that our sons and daughters with Autism Spectrum Disorders would be the few individuals, the likely, only group to feel no pain over the lack of social networking in person. In this arena, they will excel. However for the rest of us, those that need to be physically in other's company, we will have a dramatic rise in depression. As Sunday dinner at grandma's house lends to video conferencing from states and even countries away, we are reminded that as our contacts have become worldwide; our community has become ever decreasingly smaller. I wonder where this will lead us, tomorrow. I wonder can we bridge the gap between worldwide contacts and community. I wonder do online relationships fill the gap left by the current social structure and its lack of time and person to person networking, or, does it feed it. I wonder. I wonder, what do you think?