I know the Cross Dressers Discussion Forum--which has been around for several years now--is closing down soon. (This, in itself, warrants my starting this thread in the "Coping for CD's" section.) If I'm not mistaken, some of the members from the CDDF have already started to join our own forum. I bid these good folks a warm welcome.
I'm still a member of the CDDF and I pop over there once in a while. I came over here over four years ago as a refugee of sorts, when the CDDF was going through a rough spot; even though I call this forum my online home (for that is what it feels like), I made my first regular online posts on the CDDF. The fact that it's going offline has got some of the "elder" members a mite anxious. This got me thinking about what it is, exactly, that draws us back to a forum, any forum, time and again. I think the answer is, in a word: family.
A place such as this (and, for their own longstanding members, the CDDF) is where you go when you need to go somewhere where you know that people will not turn you away nor judge you too harshly. A "Cheers" of sorts, where everybody knows your name. Especially if you've been a member for a long time. They know who you are; they love and appreciate you for who you are; they feel they can call you on your bullcrap and still remain friends with you; they'll lend you a shoulder to cry on and raise you up when you feel low. Laugh along with you when you're happy. Brothers and sisters. All sexes, all genders, and all orientations confounded. A family. Certainly a family like I, for one, feel I've never had.
This got me thinking some more (somebody, please, stop me!
): one of the reasons it can be tough for new members to speak up (or even to join) is that there must be some supposition on their part that, this being like a big family, they must, in a way, have to go through an "adoption process." Possibly, they fear that process. They fear being rejected, not being considered up to snuff, not fitting in, not being welcomed as a brother or sister in our family. These fears are groundless. I'll set the following sentence apart, just so it be clear to everyone thatAll are welcome here.
To non-posting readers out there: You'll never know if you'll fit in until you try to snuggle up to us (and we're very cuddly... as if that weren't already obvious). You'll have a better chance of fruitfully exploring your emotional innards if you share your journey with us. This is quite aside from any advice members here may have to offer you. And I guarantee you'll enjoy the sense of connection you'll find here as you get to know us and we get to know you. We don't bite. I swear. Although we bare our teeth often, we do so only when we smile or laugh.
To (soon-to-be-ex-) members of the CDDF: though some of you will be hurting--one CDDF member, SRVfan, has stated that it feels as though a friend is moving to another planet--there is a balm to be had on this board, too. So don't be shy; pop in and say hello. Some of you will undoubtedly wind up on other forums, and that's fine, too. Just remember that--in friendship and mutual respect--again, all are welcome here.
I look forward to seeing new arrivals drop in soon.
Love,
CJ
as I was trying to read the posts by CJ and Virginia. Got them dried in time to start 
