by Amber Richards

Created on: February 08, 2010

Are Internet Friends REAL friends?

In life, I've learned that sometimes your closest, most personal friends sometimes end up being not as "real" as you had hoped. I've also come to learn that some of the best friends, or at least for me, are hundreds of miles away, yet only seconds away when I need them. Whether it be a few strokes of the keyboard or a well memorized number dialed on my phone, my best friend is always there, yet I've never met her face-to-face.

It all started when I was pregnant with my first child a little over 7 years ago. I had come across a chat room for moms and moms-to-be. Being newly pregnant, I had many questions & very few answers. I thought, "Who better to ask than other moms!" I quickly got to know many wonderful mothers who always seemed to have an easy solution to my newest ailment brought on by pregnancy.

I was then invited to join an emailing ring, where mothers would email questions to the group, new pictures of their kids, or just some funny jokes to get us through the day. I learned a-lot from them and felt as if they were my sisters who I had known my entire life. Time went on, I had my baby, and eventually most of the women lost contact with one another. I managed to still talk to a few online and even a couple of them on the phone from time to time. However, there was one woman who I never lost contact with and as time went on we found ourselves getting closer than we had imagined.

It's now been 7 years since I met her, almost as long as I've been married to my husband. There isn't a day that goes by that we don't talk on the phone, usually about 6 times a day! We often find ourselves sharing many sleepless nights and keeping each other company on the phone. We talk about our children, their education, our hopes and our dreams for them. There's pretty much nothing we can't discuss openly and honestly. We give advice, whether the other person agrees with it or not. We laugh together, we cry together and we have such a bond that seems to be unwaivering.

We live around 800 miles apart, yet if something is wrong or one of us is having a bad day, we're only seconds away from each other. Seconds from a shoulder to cry on, a listening ear and an open heart. That's what "REAL" friends do. They support one another and are always there for each other, no matter the distance between the two. Our friendship may have started with the click of a mouse, but it goes on because it's strong and more importantly because it's real. 

The truth is, relationships can take any form. For some, they may need a person who they can see and touch. For others, it may be someone who can listen and give advice. For me, it's a friendship with another similar minded person. One who shares similar goals and values and doesn't mind the fact that her best friend can't reach out and touch her hand, but knows that she will always be there to touch her life and mend her heart.

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