Have you ever reached out to a total stranger and received advice that helped you in profound ways? I did, just recently right here on SD. I’m brokenhearted, having a tough time coming to terms with various changes in my life. You helped me in these last few days. You know who you are. Thank you. You are a lovely man.
I just wanted to share that this community of folks - your never ending opinions, humor, wit and warmth makes me happy that I found you. I looked at many of your photos tonight…it was fun putting a face to your words. Keep making me laugh…good god do I need that more than anything right now! Well, maybe not more than “anything…”
I have found sympathy, empathy, support and wisdom here more than one would believe, over the years.
Glad someone could help!
Honestly, while I can’t (and wouldn’t attempt to) speak for all Dopers, many of them are lovely, thoughtful, giving people who will do what they can for other members of the community!
Yes, I am finding that. Thanks.
I spent 6 yrs caregiving in my home, for someone who was fully bedridden and needed lots of care, +laundry, +meds, +physio, etc, etc, on endlessly.
I went from a largely unstructured lifestyle to one that was the exact opposite. I had to learn, pharmacology, a little medicine, managing hired help, cooking a special diet, and maneuvering the bureaucracy - all on the fly.
I was so out of my depth it’s hard to describe. I was almost completely housebound.
The Straight Dope community, was an absolute Godsend for me. I didn’t post a lot, but I read, and felt connected to, a larger and more vibrant world, because of it. It made me laugh, and think, kept me up on the latest this or that. And when I had questions, I got answers. And when it was the middle of a long night and I was holding vigil, the dope was always there for me.
And when the end was upon me, and death arrived, the dope helped hold me up. In the months following, as I recovered, the dope was, once again, there for me. In my darkest hours, there was always someone listening, encouraging and reassuring.
When people asked me, during those years, “Like, how are you doing this?”, I always knew Doper’s were a big part of the answer!
It’s like a debt that can never be repaid. And just revisiting it, in this post, has brought me to tears. I will never find the words to express what it meant to me then, and continues to mean to me today!