Soon, that was my home-page. One night I was checking out the links he had to other sites and discovered "Free Republic". A lurker was born. Soon I signed up and FR was my home-page - and has been ever since.
I've lived through the Drudge disconnect (haven't been THERE in almost two years) and the Trixie split, several "Good-bye Cruel World" posts, and held my breath and prayed with Gonzo when the SS came to his door. Have witnessed some awesome flame wars. I cyber-met and chat with Alamo-Girl and amom and Yellow Rose of Texas, 3 people I consider friends.
Lord, I love this place! And yes, I donate regularly.
Ah, but you forgot A+Bert, the ASH ALERTS, quidam. And one that happened the summer before you got here ... Trident_Delta went off in his airplane right in the middle of a thread and never came back til MONTHS later. Scared me to death. LOL But the funniest of them all were the "Good-bye Cruel World" posts.
Thanks for sharing. You brought back a lot of memories.
You and I have both experienced the encouragement of this cyber-family during difficult times, the prayers and the comfort. I'd like to say how important Free Republic is to me, but words fail...