I'm no different from the next person. One negative comment in my guest book and I'm all upset, taking it personally, forgetting all the positive and encouraging entries over the years; focusing on that one nagging negative question.

First of all, when the page was built we had no idea that anyone other than ourselves would ever read it. It wasn't built with any grand design or illusion of grandeur or even with any hopes of coming up with anything new and enlightening. The page was built with one goal in mind. We were in the earliest stages of coming to terms with the truth. We were angry, depressed, suicidal, and terrified. Life as we knew it was over. Life as we knew it was a lie. The page was built as a last-ditch effort to pull ourselves up by the bootstraps and keep walking. There just didn't seem to be any reason to keep living until one of the more brilliant of us found a way to make it "fun." Anything new entices all of us into participating -- working together. The webpage was built as yet another means of survival. And, guess what? It worked!

When I began getting e-mail from strangers who had read the first version of our fledging project, I was stunned. But I did get e-mail; quite a bit of it actually. I've met people from all over the world. And, yes; some of them have said the page has helped them. That they've seen themselves in my words or that they realize it's really okay to be an "us" instead of a "me."

So, to answer the question left in the guest book: I suppose I never thought about my story helping anyone else. Helping others was an unexpected bonus.

Corrie

9/29/00