We recently lost a member in one of my groups through death. I did not know her well but she was a friend of a friend. I checked out her profile, it was sad to see it, her last activities were eighteen days ago and then her EONS days were over as she moved closer to her final days here on earth.

This event caused me to reflect on the consequences of being a part of a large social group like EONS. There is the obvious and immediate feedback such as new friends, abilities to communicate with peers, share laughter and jokes etc. But then I realize that by vastly increasing my circle of friends by belonging to a large social group I will also be losing more friends as the years go by. It is one thing to cope with the lost in our small circle of real life friends but now this will be happening more often and may require different ways of coping with the lost. When our online friends pass away we will not be standing at the casket, hugging friends and relatives of the deceased. This type of touching is beneficial in the handling of grief. We will not be baking cookies or making cheese platters to offer to the family. In most cases we will not even know the diseased was dying. All we know is that he or she has not been posting lately.

It appears that one of the side effects of expanding our circle of friends is that we have expanded our encounter will sorrow. The phrase "No pain - no gain." comes to me now. The happy days sharing with friends here at EONS far out weigh the sorrow that may result in their lost.

Let me say this to my friends here now while I can. I am here to make a positive difference in your lives while accepting all that you have to offer in enhancing my life. You all will not be forgotten and I also hope memories of me will survive. ~gJ