Earlier today, I typed "rinkworks.com/rinkforum" into my browser's address bar, expecting nothing unordinary. When the page loaded, I was stunned. No longer did I see a list of links to posts by members of a kind of family. No longer did I see the names of my friends, or the titles they gave to bits of their souls. Instead, I saw a message from Sam, and three boards.

I'm saying I was stunned not because I don't think this is a good idea; in fact, I think it's wonderful. The reason I am writing this post is because seeing this complete change in the forum made me think of how RinkWorks has been a constant in my life since I found it.

I first discovered RinkWorks while searching for online games. I loved AGL incredibly, and then realized there were other parts to the site when I read "Duel of the Ages" from the link on the AGL page. I looked around a bit, and found the forum and chat. Ever since, I have kept coming back, and can't imagine not coming back.

Over the summer, it was really hard to chat or post because I had to share a computer and basically didn't have a lot of time to use it. I considered writing a post saying I would take a break from RinkWorks - that I would post or chat once in a while, but not very much, at least until I got back to school with the network connection and my own computer. I couldn't bring myself to do it. I knew that even though I haven't had a close connection with the majority of people here, there would be people who would miss me. And that alone made the trouble of coming here worth it.

Last semester, when I didn't have an 8:00 class, checking the forum would be the first thing I did in the morning. And I don't know how many times I've been looking for a completely separate site when my fingers will type "rinkworks.com/rinkforum" without me even thinking about it. It's truly too many to count, for typing that is second nature to me.

I'm not going to say why I love RinkWorks. I think most of you will know, because you feel pretty much the same way as I do. I am just going to say thank you. Thank you for being here to listen to me, to make me laugh, to make me feel welcome, to share your lives with me. And thank you, Sam, for making RinkWorks such a beautiful place to be, and thank you for bringing out the best in us.

Gahalia