I know it’s bad taste to admitting to having favorite C&F members, but I do have favorites and it’s everybody. More than a few C&Fers over the years (yes, I’ve been here 3 years now) have been nothing but patience and sunshine to me.
I can’t help but feel overwhelmed with the help, AND THE TIME AND MONEY (and not to mention phone calls and emails and letters and instruments!) invested in me by the kind souls of Dale, Doug, Jerry, Jim (we have a lot of Jims, you know who you are), Lambchop and serpent (yes, I’m even appreciative of my arch enemies, haha), didymus, Beth, Walden, Susan, Robin, Carol, TelegramSam, Bloomius Fieldius, Andrea, izzarina, missy, Flyingcursor, cowtime, Dub, Charlene, amar, Idiot, His Supreme Seediness Martin Milner, Daniel Bingamon, emmm, and all the others whose screen names I can’t recall right off the top of my head but whose kindness and patience have left a deep bright mark on my soul and all the millions of chat people who rarely or never post but who’ve encouraged me and shown me love and respect and kindness over the years.
I really appreciate you all so much. I really consider myself blessed to be a part of such a dysfunctional community as C&F, and I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately as my C&F 3 year anniversary came and passed and I didn’t even notice until somebody told me. I just wanted to publicly thank all of you. You’re all my favorites and I thank God that you exist!!
well, we all love YOU, too, Cran - and we worry when you disappear for a while, and we celebrate when you are here.
You are a truly wonderful and great person, and it’s been neat getting to “know” you. Hopefully your health troubles will soon be better and you can get on with making that “mark” in life that you want to. But you already have, you know, just by being you.
I think you know how much you mean to me, and how appreciative I am to YOU, Cran Happy anniversary, albeit late. And thank you for the wonderful white roses that you bring to us
By the way, speaking of all of this and only vaguely or maybe not so vaguely related…
I saw the PBS documentary called “Country Boys” a few weeks ago. I think it might have been a “Frontline” piece. Anyways, it’s about two young men in Kentucky who were attending an alternative high school (I think) for kids with problems. Both came from dysfunctional families, and it followed them for a year or so to see how they would cope with their lives, high school graduation, etc. The whole time I was watching it I was thinking of you, Cran. It was very sad as well as moving, and one of the boys I just wanted to grab and say, “Ignore those idiots, you are a lovable kid!” The same way I have felt sometimes in the past when you seemed to be veering off course. It’s been interesting and nice to see you come of age a little here on the board, I think you are coping pretty well right now, all things considered.
I think so, too. I cope only with and through Jesus. If it were not for Jesus, all the counselors, professors, therapists, doctors, bosses, surgeons, friends, Friends, and Jerry Freemans in this world (or any other, for that matter) would be useless to me. I really feel like Jesus shapes me by using all the wonderful people and circumstances, because I honestly cannot fathom that everything that has happened in the past few years in my life could all happen all by coincidence–it’s just not possible.
I have surely gone through a lot in the past three years, including but not limited to homelessness, serious disease, imprisonment of a parent, death of a sibling, having multiple jobs, living on my own, going to college, and simply loosing my mind a couple times in the process. Without Jesus, I would be so literally dead it’s not funny.
This year also marks the 10th year (give or take, I don’t remember the exact date) that I’ve been a vegetarian. I feel like the first part of my life is finally over and the next one is starting. It’s scarey and exciting.
Happy anniversary, albeit late. And thank you for the wonderful white roses that you bring to us 
