Day one for this thread was 12th January. By the end of the 12th there were 23 posts...a pretty impressive start. Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined that I would be sitting here on 19th May, writing post 501 (that is, unless someone squeezes in 501 while I'm writing this!). The collective power of this online community is something I have never experienced before...more profound, more inclusive, more safe, more worthwhile than anything 'masquerading' as religion. I went to church as a child...most people did in the village in which I lived, but it wasn't long before questions were forming in my mind that needed answers. The answers didn't come & round about the age of 12, my Father was summoned to the vicarage & asked to remove me from the congregation because I was a 'trouble-maker'. At school, R.E. was taught by an ordained minister. He didn't answer my questions either, so our teacher-pupil 'relationship' deteriorated rapidly, resulting in frequent punishments. His preferred method was to bind & gag me & sit me on top of an old safe in his office. He would then proceed to rail at me about hellfire & damnation & what an evil little so & so I was.
          I started this thread because Ann & I felt so desperate & helpless following Jane's diagnosis, but as the days have turned into months, I am becoming increasingly aware that I need all you good people too...people I can trust, people I can rely on, people who, despite their own trials & tribulations will still take a moment to find out how we're doing.
         I cannot adequately express what your kind, caring words have meant to Ann & myself & to me on a very personal level. You've put back a measure of trust in my Life that has been absent for too long.
         With Much Love,
                                 Nigel & Ann (And Nigel personally)
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