Before stumbling onto Daily Kos in search of enlightenment and truth, I was fortunate to have been part of another great online community. Likely, you've never heard of the TimeWarp BBS, a local Atlanta online community formed by and for the fans and actors of THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW. Like DK, it morphed and grew in contributors and mission, and became a community of diverse people who cared about each other and a variety of causes. Like DKos, we could access the site at no cost, or purchase subscriptions that helped us all expand and strenghten our community. We took every opportunity to plan gatherings to bring us together in cyberspace and in real life. We helped those who were newbies, counseled those who had problems, celebrated weddings and graduations. Like all families we also argued and fought.
I may have been the eldest member of the TimeWarp, I am not really certain now. In any case, age didn't matter; nor did looks, wealth, race, creed, sexual orientation, gender, computer literacy or politics. I wasn't involved with RHPS, except as a member of the audience. I didn't manage any of the online forums, but did participate in discussion groups. I really just loved reading what people had to say. I was the audience, the reader, the watcher. In RL, I helped people pack up when they moved, did some childcare and was saved by 3 of the guys who took a break from studying at Georgia Tech to come over and fix my sump pump when my basement flooded.
It was true community. But alas, it went the way of the monochrome monitor as entities like aol became household names and computer display became all colorful. People moved on. Kids grew up. Marriages dissolved. I became disabled and isolated. I hate losing stuff.
My health collapsed. I spent all my savings on medical bills as I had no insurance. I lost my business and my identity as a travel professional after 21 years work. I lost myself.
I existed in my bed, but I lived online. When NATO bombed Serbia, I cried alone about man's inhumanity to man, and found my news online. During the Bush v Gore days, I stumbled in and out of online sites looking for truth, indignation, direction. When Katrina hit, I again cried alone for my former home and had nowhere to turn. By the time of the Obama vs Hillary battles, I had been reading DKos regularly for well over a year. I even managed to commit to a user ID, so I could make a comment about something or other.
It was the Crisis in Haiti that truly made me a member of this community. The ShelterBox diaries brought out the best in me and so many others on this site. I dug into my wallet and pulled a little out from my disability check to add to what others were giving to provide help to strangers. We just kept buying more boxes, with small donations. That is when I stopped feeling lost, and knew I had found my community. I quit just reading and became an activist. I forwarded Haiti diaries asking for donations. I phonebanked for the 2008 elections. I worked again phonebanking in 2010. I fought the good fight to keep my home from foreclosure, I didn't win, but i didn't quit. I even did my first and only diary here about that. I attended an OWS protest in Flagstaff this fall carrying a sign I made. Daily Kos and this community inspired and empowered me. Thank you all for that.
I especially want to thank KelleyRN2 and the donations of strangers for gifting me a lifetime subscription to this wonderful, complex community. I do not have sufficient skill with words to truly express my feelings. But I won't give up and I will do my best to make you all proud.
