December 1- To My Online Family With Much Love

What is an ONLINE family? To most people an online family is unheard of. Questions like, "How can an online family be better than one you can see in real life?". "How can an online family love you like a real family can?", "How do you know this online family actually cares about you and not just pretending to care whenever you are all online together?", "What do you get from an online family that you can't get from a true life family?", and/or "How can you call anyone family that you have never met in real life?" You even have some saying that you need to get out of the fantasy world and come back to reality.
Let me first address the questions with my own answer that I am sure many in my situation would also answer. Keep in mind these answers are based on my own experience and are my own opinions.
An online family can be better than a real family when that so called real family neglects to provide love, understanding, acceptance, and support that the online family does provide. Many people turn to online families for just this reason alone.
An online family can indeed show you love even more so than a real family can by being there when you need them and standing up for you when the world turns their back on you including your so-called real family. An online family would not use lies and manipulation to try and take your children away from you. An online family would never use those same lies to turn parents against each other to further accomplish their goal of taking that child for themselves. For these reasons, an online family is much more a family as family should be.
There is no actual way to know that the online family truly cares about you and not just pretending to do so when you are online with them, but when you have had your real family pretending to love you and care for you in the public eye and then showing their true face behind closed doors, you actually begin to see that there is not that much difference between the two. It is then that wanting to know if the online family really cares and actually loves you even when you are not online becomes a minor issue.
All online families are different. One may provide something that another does not, but one thing is constant in what an online family does provide that perhaps someone's real family does not. That is the understanding all of one's needs, being able to provide what is needed to help a person become what they feel they truly are, and not trying to dissuade anyone from being their true self whatever that may be.
Like I said in my first answer, many people turn to online families when their real family fails to provide love, understanding, acceptance, and support. They can also turn to online families when their own family has chosen to turn their backs on them because of what they truly are. This is the case in many online families of the GLBT community and other communities as well. Two examples other than GLBT that I know of are the Adult Baby/Diaper Lover and the BDSM communities.
As for the last question, I'll tell you how I can call someone I never met in real life family because it is my online family that has taught me what being a part of a family is all about. If you have been reading my blog from day one until now, you know already about my real so-called family. You also know of everything I had to go through in life with people I have met in person. When my mommy from Second Life, BabyAlice Tulip, adopted me as her baby girl, I finally began to see how a parent is supposed to love their child and that helped me to fill in the missing part of the love I never got as a child. When I needed her, she was always there to comfort me and to raise my spirits even when her own were in turmoil. As a parent should, she put the needs of me as her child first and was never mean, hateful, or abusive in any way. She even honored me in her own blog found here. I was never out to seek recognition, fame, nor for something in return from her when I told her I would get the two pieces she needs to complete her memorial PC for her brother who had passed on due to a major illness. I did it out of the love I felt for her being my mommy as well as a true friend in real life. Then, I discovered Utherverse, where I was taken under wing by a sweet woman going by the name of Maryanna_AK. She is my owner in that virtual world, but along with my sister, Shelly_AK , they became my second online family. Through being with them, I was taught the meaning of what a true family should be to each other. They protect and stand up for me when someone is treating me badly, help me with whatever I need, live by the motto, "What's yours, is mine. What's mine is yours," and provide me with support as well raise my spirits much like mommy Alice does. They have also taught me that when you are part of a family, there is no me or mine. Rather it is us or ours. In other words, a family is more like a well-trained team and not just an individual. With my real family and others I have met in real life, this was never the case. This is why I can call someone I never met a family and love them more than I love my real so-called family.
To mommy Alice, thank you for showing me the love a parent should always show their child and for always putting my needs always before your own. May you have the best holiday season ever. To Maryanna_AK and sister Shelly_AK, thank you for showing me what a true family should be like and for everything you have done to make me feel so much more at home online than I do in the real world. May the two of you also have the greatest holiday you could have ever wished for. To the rest of my online family, especially SissyJerry Lemon, Jordan Carpaccio and all my other friends from Second Life, I love you all very much, and combined with mommy Alice, Maryanna_AK, and Shelly_AK, I will always consider you my real family. To quote a line from Avatar the movie, "Everything seems so backwards now. It's like in here is the real world and outside of it is the dream." It's a nightmare in the real world that I must face each and every time I log off the internet, but I am always glad when I can wake up with my family that actual love me and know what being an actual family is all about whenever I log back in. Take care and be safe always.