Full Circle Through the Lens of a Nikon Camera...and then some.

I have been one of those people who has had the very great fortune, over the past decade of being part of the Blogosphere, to meet and know people who I have been blessed to call FRIENDS.  You go through life, you meet people, and sometimes, if you're lucky, you connect in some ethereal way.  It's kinda funny, but the people that I have had that ethereal connection with are the people that don't actually breathe the same air as I do.  In fact, they live miles and miles and miles away.  We don't see each other every day.  We don't talk to each other every day.  And yet, I feel so much closer to them than some of the people that in fact, DO share the same air space as I do. 

Don't get me wrong.  I have the near and dear, the people who have common DNA with me, the ones whom I love with my entire being.  But, through my blog, and through common websites, I have met and yes, actually LOVE people that I consider more dear to my soul, and in fact, I consider the family that I have been blessed enough to fall into.  The people that have loved me just for me.  The people whom I can be simply Pua with.  Who actually know me better, sometimes, than I know myself.  Many are the ones that I have not yet met, but whom I have sought out in my travels, or have sought me out.  How lucky am I that people think enough of me that they actually want to meet me face to face?  Yeah, I'm damn lucky, and I know it.

I don't know how it happened, or why it happened.  I only know that I am thought of in a way that sometimes I feel unworthy of.  But, I know I return their love and affection tenfold.  Whether in daily thought, or heartfelt warmth.  I call those hugs from afar.  I send them out, and more often than not, they come back to me in quite unexpected ways.

A few months ago, my friend Scott had come to LA for a visit, and his friends Seth and Lisa had a little welcome gathering at their home.  They invited us to attend.  Last summer, Scott had come and Averie and I were able to have brunch with Scott where we also met Zach and Levi and Seth.  This time, we met Seth's lovely wife Lisa and Jay, who came with Scott this trip, as well.  It was such a beautiful evening and I felt such warmth and love, AND I was so proud to be able to introduce my whole family to everyone.  It was a beautiful evening.  Our friendship circle grew.

This week, Lisa wrote to me and told me she had heard that I no longer had a camera.  'Tis true.  I don't have a smartphone with camera capabilities.  I had to give that up when I became unemployed.  Then, my own digital camera stopped working.  So, I've had no camera for about two months.  I miss it.  I feel like memories are passing me by and I only have my feeble mind to hold them.  Lisa said that her new phone has an amazind camera and she no longer needed the digital camera she had and wondered if I'd like it.  Seriously?  Out of the blue, comes this angel who thought of ME.  The camera arrived today.  I cried.  You can ask Charlie.  I cried.

So many people, over the years, have asked me how I can put my trust "out there" on the internet.  "You know what?," I tell them, "I have more faith and trust in the people I have met on the internet than many people I know in my 3D world."  That's a damn fact.  I have NEVER been hurt, maligned, betrayed, mistreated, or thought of as anything but special by the FRIENDS I have met online, and the people that they have deemed me worthy enough to introduce me to.  They have been kind, generous and loving to me, to my husband, and most importantly to my kids than I can tell you.  Actually, I HAVE told you.  Over these many years that I have been blogging, I have told you of the countless ways that I feel loved and blessed by the people I call my friends.  Not internet acquaintances, not blog meet ups, simply and wonderfully FRIENDS.