Refugee thread!

[The Valkyrie]

Without mentioning any names I want to share that I got two or three PMs at TPTSNBN in those very last few days from people who were members but did not regularly post.  One, I think, had been a long time member but had NEVER posted.  Appreciation for the forum and for me personally was expressed.  (I'm trying hard here to say this without stepping into that person's personal space.)  One told me (with much more heart and feeling than I can express here) that they were not speakers/posters but read the posts on the forum every night.  Every night. And told me (paraphrasing) what a comfort that space/place was and how important it was to that person.  And how they depended on TPTSNBN to BE there for them. 

I cried when I read that PM.  THAT PM meant as much or more to me than any of the other hundreds I got from regular posters while I was there.  I read it several times in those last few days.  I cried every time.

The first forum I ever participated in (not atheist-related) I posted a thread when my mother died.  I got a PM shortly thereafter from a member of that forum (age 80+) who had LITERALLY NEVER posted a single time.  The things she said to me in that time of gut-wrenching grief ---well, it was overwhelmingly comforting and, again, meant as much if not more to me than any of the dozens of well-wishers that I spoke with every day on that forum.

I share those thoughts as a way to point this out------there WILL be TTA refugees here who will/have registered now as members, that you may never, ever, see post anything, ever.  And that's okay.  We (and yes, I AM starting to refer to myself as part of that "we" now) are here for them too. And they are here for us when it really matters.  Please don't pressure them, even in jest, that they should post if they don't want to.  They are not lurkers in the usual/normal sense of the word.  They are more like that friend in the circle who rarely speaks, but is still a true and valuable friend.  

For them:

Very well said.