Posted by:
Nightingale
(
)
Date: August 17, 2016 01:45PM
Eric, I'm not sure I'm reading you correctly. I'm embarrassed if not - but are you lumping me in with this group of RfM big-hitters? If so, I am immensely and amazedly flattered.
But. I don't know how my posts can be in the same category. Not false modesty, just a statement of truth, as far as I'm concerned. I don't have any family background in Mormonism or any great history as one of those odd beings (according to many) who (so-called) 'converted' to the church (I never believed in JS but stupidly got baptized anyway. I was so focused on just getting baptized - I should have just gone with the first one - Catholic - as an unknowing infant - less trauma for me, less self-imposed misery).
I don't think I've written (m)any posts for the ages. If anybody thinks so, you have my surprised face and my sincere thank yous.
But from now on, I'll try to be wiser, maturer, more relevant, etc.
If that's not what you meant, Eric, to put me in the archives, please ignore this whole thing and meanwhile I'll work on finding good posts to be highlighted and saved (there are many).
Just off the top of my head I'd say let's save donbagley's posts and Elder Berry's that mention his complex and intriguing Mormon family background. Any that ask for help with common issues that so often receive the best of RfM responses from sensitive and helpful fellow travellers. The ones that 'rescue' mishies and support someone in crisis. The unusual ones. The heart-rending ones. The informative ones. The funny ones, because laughing about things is often very good medicine.
And this reminds me of the time I spied my own "Please Help Me" post from back when I was new on the board. I was so shocked about finding out about racism and other dark sides of the Mormon Church. I felt embarrassed to be so clueless and to express such an emotional reaction. It's not like me. (Clueless, yes, emotional in public, no).
One of the things that has helped me the most on the board (as someone who doesn't fill up a 30-post limit on a thread and now it's zoomed up to 60 - a walk in the park for a Benson or RJ thread but uh, me, not so much) was your post the other day, Eric, about how you can tell that thousands of people read many of the posts, although of course only a handful may ever respond in writing. It is an affirming thought for all of us, not to judge ourselves by the number of replies any given thread may glean but to know that countless others read our words and experiences and feelings and may be helped in ways we will never know. You can kind of tell this too when a poster leaves or passes away and the many condolences express their importance to lurkers and posters here, something the person in question may never have known.
Infinite thanks, Eric, for taking the time to do the archives. It is a great resource for people who come after to catch up with some of the big topics that have been covered through the years and for us old-time RfMers to review them. Like me, after all the years and dozens of posts about resigning, I am finally going to the archives to look up how to resign and then I'm going to do it. I want out, out, out. For ever and ever, amen.