You meet the nicest people

On the Internet. I know a lot of people and I have no idea what they look like, how they sound, where exactly they live, how old they are, who their family are or what race colour or creed they are.

Some people I do know and have met through the Internet and we have subsequently met up. Some have sent their photographs and some have shared their family history with me.

So what am I banging on about now I hear you ask? Well I got an e-mail from a lady whom I have known on the Internet for many years. We share a connection that is over 350 years old when her family and mine were refugees in London in the 1650s. Together these two friends faced adversity we could hardly even begin to understand today, life threatening reasons bonded them together and brought them to England to live their life free from the persecution they had suffered through all of their lives to that date. So we have shared our ancestry online and I got an e-mail tonight asking how I was. Now here is the rub. This lady had bladder cancer many years ago and had some serious operations to sort it out. When I wrote to her last year telling her what was going on in my life I got some great e-mails back, very supportive and they gave me some real hope that I'd get through it. You see, when you are first diagnosed, you think of the one question - HOW LONG - of course it doesn't cross your mind that these things are curable. So my Internet friend - shall we say cousin, was the first person that I knew to provide me with that comfort that this is survivable.

I think that the Internet is good for that sort of relationship - we are friends across many miles - in fact across continents. We know each other as sort of cousins in a way and we share an e-mail friendship that made a real difference to me in a dark time.

I just thought that it was worth saying that I have no idea, nor do I care about all the preconceptions type stuff here, race, religion, politics etc. It is the sentiment and the humanity in the message that are important. The warmth and friendship of the words and the way they are written are and have been a great comfort. So cut my standard cynical outlook for a moment and consider the blessing of friendship in all its forms.