I'm still here, too. I don't comment as much -- if someone else has already said what I might have said, then I don't usually chime in. The TMIC as a whole is not nearly as active as it was when I first joined back some...oh, 14-15 years ago. I'm coming up on my 16th "anniversary" with TM on Sept. 1. I think one reason is that there is a lot of information available online now, and that's a good thing. When I first contracted TM, I didn't have a computer, and the local library had a two-page spread in one medical book, and that was it. TM was the first thing I searched for when we did get a computer, and this group was the first concrete link I found. It was a godsend, really, to have somewhere to post questions and compare notes. But now that so much more information is online, people may be getting their questions answered in their own research.
And I think, too, for some of us who have been here a while, we've gotten our basic questions answered (even if the answer in some cases is that there is no known answer), so there's not as much to talk about. The main reason I stay on now is to be of help if anyone else has a question or just needs some empathy and support. Too, as Roger said, some have gone on to other means of communication now. I think the TM message board or bulletin board was pretty active for a while, and now Facebook is where many people go to interact online. I was in the group there for a while, but left -- the 50+ messages Bobby Jim referred to were just too much for me. When I first came online, TMIC was about the only thing I "did" online besides an occasional e-mail to family who had e-mail. But now nearly everybody has e-mail, many friends are on Facebook, I've found several blogs I read as well as news and entertainment -- now I have to be careful not to let computer time eat up too much of my day. And I don't know, but I think that may be the biggest reason some folks aren't as active. When I send out birthday greetings, if an e-mail bounces back to me, I'll make a note of it so I don't post that non-working e-mail again next time, but I don't delete the name in case they come back. It is sad every month to see that there are almost as many inactive names there as there are active now. I miss hearing from some of those folks and wonder how they are. But I truly think as long as there is a TMIC, there will be some of us here. We just need to wave every now and then. :-) Barbara H. http://barbarah.wordpress.com
