I Believe That Internet Friends Are Real

I hate when people say "Internet friends aren't real". So you mean that because I met you through the Internet, that I can't possibly be a true friend? Yes, there are those unsavory types who play at being a nice person, a friend, but I'm not one of them. I have stayed up very late just to help an Internet friend out, cried and laughed with them, and that to me, is a friend. So yes, I am on the other side of your screen, but I'm real and a friend.

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PeanutsauntieP1982 · 41-45, F

Corvo, I had an Internet friend about 9 years ago who would email me everyday. Besides his wife and kids, who were not close to him, I was one of his only links to the outside word, the man had agoraphobia, and hadn't left his house in twenty years. One day I notice he didn't email me. I got worried and shot him a quick email, asking if he was on. No reply... I am fairly certain he has died suddenly.

A few months passed, and I see a familiar email addy in my inbox. My heart speeds up a little.

The email simply states that my friend had a blood clot that lodged in a lung, killing him. It was his son emailing me, and I cried for quite a while for my friend.

So sometimes it's not that they wanted to be rude, sometimes things like death happen unexpectedly with neither of you getting a chance to tell the other good-bye.