MARK'S... ------------------------------------------------------------ * * * *** * * ***** * ***** ***** ***** ***** *** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *** * *** * * *** *** * * * * * * * * * * * * * ***** *** * ***** ***** ***** * * ***** * * ------------------------------------------------------------ Volume 1 ~ Issue 2 ~ 30 December 1999 (C)1999 Mark Krell ------------------------------------------------------------ CYBER FRIENDS / REAL WORLD FRIENDS... Dear Mark, You do not have to answer this ,I know your time is valuable. I have a made some wonderful friends on the internet,some of them I will never meet,but they are there for me when I need someone to talk to ,to make me laugh,an in return I have touched other people lives,that I would never even know if not for the internet,I am honored by everyone of my friends. I also feel any relationship has to start with friendship. I'm sure someday ,your princess will come. Have a great day. Regards, This letter came to me from a super nice lady. More important is that to me she could easily be the most beautiful girl in the world! She is an articulate and gracious person who has a good sense of fair play. She is kind, considerate, intelligent, and presents herself as a wonderfully feminine woman. Get the idea that I like her? Unfortunately as a product of past hurts, she is afraid of me. I've included her letter text here because it is not intimately personal in nature and because she advances a few thoughts that well deserve consideration. First, it's not that I consider my time "valuable". LoveLetter came about because my time was getting in short supply, and because I found myself writing the same things to different people. Being this redundant was occupying more time than I had available. I also found myself not sharing things with you because of the time needed to retype the story over and over. Now, I type it once and you all get a smile or an inspiration or some of you decide that I'm hopeless. I got a response from another nice lady telling me she thought LoveLetter was my way of kissing her off. Far from it... It's a good way of being able to share more with her, and you! But I digress... Now to the business at hand. I have told some of you that most friendships I have are of long standing. Many pre-date the internet. These friendships have some common attributes like honesty and mutually helping each other in real world ways. Our lives touch each other in very real and valuable ways. While I admit that keyboard friendships can provide an exchange of ideas and some emotional support, I can't think of cyber friends in the same way as those I know in the "real" world. First, there is the realization that not everyone is truthful. Am I ever REALLY sure of WHO I am exchanging electronic communications with? I know what they have typed for me to read, but what didn't they say? So, is it real? I do know this... YOU are real! I am thoughfully attentive to what you tell me and to date I have found only two gals that I KNOW have lied to me. That presents odds that are very much in favor of people being genuine in internet relationships. On the other hand, from what you tell me I am the only man on the dating sites who is actually divorced and available. Many of you say that most men up there are married and wanting to play around, and that they don't declare this up front. Maybe I can take another approach toward comparing cyber and real world friendship... Keep in mind that I believe that sharing life with a good loving woman to be the greatest possible friendship... Every time I think of the lady who wrote the above letter I feel a sense of tragedy... Even though I understand that with more discovery from real experiences with her it might not have worked out for us, I believe that because of who she is and who I am that we have much to offer to each other and it well might have been great for both of us. While I agree that friendship is a good basis for any relationship, I also believe that it doesn't take much exposure to another for us to have an idea of what we may want from them. From her I knew I could easily want more... I felt that if I could have helped her to realize she was safe with me, I would have been rewarded by her helping me to know I was safe with her. You also gotta know that she is so beautiful to me that I would have kissed the ground she walks on. Instead of tickling keys, I wanted to hold her every day. Shared meals, experiences, my heart, my thoughts, my love, and I mean this in the nicest way, worshiped at the alter of her femininity. I kow the good stuff when I see it, and believe me, she's the good stuff! Taking all of this into consideration, when I think of cyber and real world friendships... I'd rather squeeze a real live girl! Even if I look at this from a standpoint of personal power to help others... Maybe some of my influences have helped some lives... But compared to the idea of rescuing one lady in a real and lifelong way, and she "rescuing me right back" (I loved that movie "Pretty Woman".) any less personal help I may give to others pales by comparison. I repeat... I'd rather squeeze a real live girl! ------------------------------------------------------------ THE MILLENIUM I have never been one to make much of New Years... Yes, I wish you a happy, healthy, an sufficiently prosperous new year that brings enough to keep you free from real worry. Happiness is not centered on things, but try to tell that to the dating site ladies who are looking for husbands who have $100,000+ yearly income. I a couple of days, I'll be able to tell my future sweetheart, "Darling, I've been waiting a millennium for you!". I'll also be able to tell young folks, "Why, I remember back in the last millenium...". At this time I think about a concept shared by a dear friend here in Georgia and me. She and I have mirrored each other's thoughts with the following... Each and every day that passes in which we are not loving and being loved by someone is a wasted day which we can never reclaim. I have only one prayer for the new millenium... Dear God, Make it so when everybody wakes up on January 1st, they have forgiven and discarded all past hurts and are ready to love with their complete hearts and minds again. Thanks, Mark ------------------------------------------------------------ end of issue. |