There’s a group of people in this world who I might never meet. I might never share a brunch on a Sunday with them or travel down to downtown with them. I might never get to hug them and tell them how much they mean to me in person; however, at the end of my long day, they are still some of the best people I have ever met and they are the infamous internet friends.

Yes, these are the people I have spent forever gaming with, whether it was enjoying Disney on VMK or reliving those memories on VFK, from kiddy Wizard101 to hardcore grinding on WoW, wrecking on Call of Duty and even being salty little League players in Summoner’s Rift. Each person I have met through my thousands of lives on these games have helped me become who I am today. I’ve never forgotten a single soul I’ve met from my gaming days and I don’t believe I ever will. The truth of it all, is that all these games brought all of us together and we forgot about the little troubles of life and just enjoyed each other’s company in whatever game we played together on.

My internet friends, you have been the rock in a lot of hard places. Some of you have seen me grow from 14 to 20 now and others have just now met me. When I thought the people in my life couldn’t understand my battles, you guys did. That was the best thing was having this entire support group through the wirings and hundreds of miles between us. We all stood for each other and we all still do.

Some of the greatest advice I ever had was from a kid out in Ohio, someone I’ve known for about six years now. When my mother had passed and I was running head first into a relationship that was about to destroy me, this guy just told me to pause. Pause life. Seems impossible right? But, he told me that my mother forgave me. He made me feel confident in the fact that I wasn’t so wrong, but that it was okay to be human and make mistakes even in the world we live in where making a mistake deems us of being lesser. Still to this day, he offers me advice even when I’m to stubborn to lend an ear because I’m badgering him at his feeding on League.

As of last week, I spent a few days with some friends who I had met over league, as well. I had decided to make a trip up to the good ole potato state to surprise one of the girls. The best part about that week, was even though I lived states away from them and was a complete stranger in terms of ‘real life’, it didn’t take me an arm and a leg to warm up to them. I could be myself with them instantly and they accepted me which is more than the real world does at certain moments. These three people who I met by an accident of joining a Skype call that would turn into one of them being my ranked partner in crime and the other two being sidekicks to mayhem, helped me realize that even though we met through a screen, that doesn’t define our friendship. It's true when they say that people a thousand miles away can make you feel better than the people who sit right next to you some days.

So to those of my internet friends who I have yet to meet or the ones who may have vanished over the years, remember we’ll re-spawn one day and when we do, I can’t wait to start slaying minions with you guys.