I experienced an online loss last June. I met this man because we were both looking to learn as much as we could about the afterlife. We became very connected with eachother. I had the wonderful opportunity to meet him and his family on 2 occassions.

One Sunday, I sent him an email that I had been meaning to send for quite awhile. The next day, when checking my mail, i noticed one from him. My first thought was "cool, Al never responds that fast." It wasn't Al, it was his daughter. Al had passed that very night. Al had many online friends and his wife knew this. Even before the coronor had left, his wife was telling his daughter to "get on that thing and tell someone". I was the one they told. My first call was to my Mom who also met Al. It was so hard telling other online friends of Al's passing. I had phone numbers for a few, but most I had to contact via email. Trust me this is not the type of information I wanted to send via email.

I lived close enough to Al to attend his funeral. With me I brought numerous prayers and words of comfort for his family to read. I wish i had been able to spend more time with them, but being an online friend, I thought that it was not my place. Later I found out his wife was looking for me and wanted me to come to the house.

When I first met this man, I had no clue how important he would become in my life. Many people may not think online relationships can grow into something incredible. Those are the people who never experienced one like I have.

<font color=white>laughter really is the best medicine</font color=white>