Lost and Found...again...

[Haids1987]

I once was lost, but now I'm found.

Hiiiiiiiiii all.  Missed ya!

[kindofdoon]

Welcome back Haids!

[Haids1987]

Thank you, Doon!  I'm soooooo glad to be back.  I missed all my forum friends!

And I'm drinking water.

[kindofdoon]

And I'm drinking water.

[tessspoon]

I once was lost, but now I'm found.

Hiiiiiiiiii all.  Missed ya!

Yays! Welcome back!

[Haids1987]

Thanks Tess!   It feels awesome to be back!

[waltzdancing]

Welcome Back!

[KatieHal]

*brings out the fatted calf* Welcome back!

[Haids1987]

 

I feel like a celebrity!  You guys are making me blush!

[Enchantermon]

She's baaaaack!

[snabbott]

Yaaaaaaaaaay!

[Haids1987]

Hi Enchantermon and Snabbott!

[Deloria]

Welcome back, Haids!

[Haids1987]

Thanks Deloria!  Beautiful picture in the Ugly Mug thread, by the way.  You have the most incredible hair!

[snabbott]

Thanks Deloria!  Beautiful picture in the Ugly Mug thread, by the way.  You have the most incredible hair!

...says everyone. And yet, Deloria keeps arguing otherwise.

[Haids1987]

  That girl.  I WISH I was a redhead!  I have dyed my hair red since I was sixteen! 

If you got it, flaunt it, chica!

[writerlove]

I'm going to be lost in translation for awhile. (Not that I'm not already ). I have a lot of exams and school work to prepare for in the coming week. Plus my school's chorus is singing Carmina Burana Saturday night. I should come back around soon. No way I'll leave for good, lolz. Love y'all and see you soon 

[Haids1987]

Oh no! We'll miss you, Kristen.  Good luck on your exams and come back soon!  Take care!

[koko_99_2001]

Come back soon, Kristen! But do well on those exams!

[GoneTooLong]

I think the time's come to get something off my chest, which isn't easy.

Once or twice on here I've made reference to the fact that I used to be a member of the TSL community, but that I disappeared because it just felt like life had become too hard and I shut down for a while, just gave up on everything but my job. I completely removed myself from the adventure community, didn't even play the adventure games I'd loved so much, just shut all of that away in my mind.

I came back once in 2009, I think, just to see how the forum was without signing in. The first thing I saw when I returned was a thread with photos from Cat and Erik's wedding, which had only just happened weeks before. I felt the most overwhelming sadness at seeing that thread, seeing all of the friends here celebrating and congratulating the happy couple. I should have been one of the people here congratulating them. They're my friends, or at least they were before I cast myself away from here.

I knew at that moment that I'd made a mistake. As bad as I'd felt, it was just plain stupid of me to remove myself from this community that had meant so much to me, from the people I could actually draw strength from. But by then it all seemed too late.

Last year, when I heard about the latest C&D, I knew I had to had to come back. I'd been part of the community when we got through the first one back in 2005, I had to be back here for round two. But I couldn't come back as my old name, could I? I'd been gone too long. I'd changed, you'd changed.

And so I was "GoneTooLong".

I guess I've always wanted to say what comes next, but I've never been brave enough. Here goes nothing...