"All men and women are born, to live, suffer and die; what distinguishes us one from another is our dreams, whether they be dreams about worldly or unworldly things, and what we do to make them come about.  We do not choose to be born.  We do not choose our parents.  We do not choose our historical epoch, the country of our birth, or the immediate circumstances of our upbringing.  We do not, most of us, choose to die; nor do we choose the time and conditions of our death.  But within this realm of choicelessness, we DO CHOOSE how we live."

                                                           Joseph Epstein

Friendships online are often fleeting,
Made and lost without even once meeting.
How many friends from online have I lost?
  I haven't kept count nor figured the cost.

Some depart, spouting bluster and rage,
  Others as quietly as the turn of a page.
Many return though I couldn't say when,
While the rest are never heard from again.

   For the loss of some, the fault is my own,
  An unkind word spoken and I'm left alone.
Some friends turn away for no reason at all.
I'm puzzled and hurt when they shun my call

   Scores of friends are forever lost to me
  Since the systems we called ceased to be.
  And more than once, I've had friends die.
     I can't forget them; I don't even try.

    So take a moment during your time online
And be aware, though there's no outward sign.
    That sound you hear, that solitary crying,
  Might well be the sound of friendships dying.

                                     Unknown

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