I think the membership growth speaks VOLUMES about a couple of things, including Montana's stability in the RV world.
But maybe more importantly, the growth is a reflection of our need to connect with kindred spirits in a world that sometimes seems increasingly burdened by things that have robbed us of time to develop friendships, time for "front porch" neighborliness, time to stop and chat at the grocery story, or time to share successes, failures, hopes, dreams, heartaches, and all the other things people used to share in a spirit of fellowship. There are, of course, still places where those things continue, but even in the small community of Dillon (small enough that if you sneeze on one side of town, someone on the other side responds "Bless you!") my friends and colleagues frequently say they feel as though their daily obligations seem to be multiplying, leaving them little or no time for anything other than work or care of their families.
It's an odd thing, but kindred spirits with a common interest on an internet forum frequently become good friends for life. One of the best friends I have today is a gal who bought a pair of shoes from me on eBay in 2002, the year I moved to Montana. When she sent me her mailing address, I discovered that by Montana standards, she lived in my back yard--in Florence, which is about 3 hours away from me. We compared notes on how we got to Montana, which led to where else we'd lived, and then the connections started; we'd crossed paths in Texas, we love many of the same artists, foods, movies, books, she works in the state crime lab and I'm a wanna be forensic pathologist (would have, should have been), our children have had the same ups and downs, and so forth. After e-mailing each other for a year, we finally got together. Instant chemistry--it was great!
I've made a lot of great forum friends here, so I'm thrilled to see the membership grow. And after coming to know many MOCers by avatar and posts only, I am delighted to know that at the 7 Feathers Rally in June, I will finally get to meet a lot of the MOCers who have made my first Montana experience a good one. (I should be using
we or
us instead of
I or
my because there are 2 of us. However, only one of use is a computer user. Guess who that might be.)
See you down the road, I hope!
Carolyn and Wayne (who is not the computer person
)
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