When I was living in Minnesota (which I loved because so many lakes were close to our house) it was 1991 to 1996. I had two kids under five, the third one in 1993. I remembered hiring students from the nearby college -- MacAlister? - to watch my crew for three hours a day while I worked.
Thanks, Pat. I was in Winona at the time. I moved to Minneapolis probably around 1996. I wish I had done more to contextualize this story, I think it would've gone over better if I had.
I kept going on talkers for a really long time, until around 2006 or 2007. By then, the community had pretty much fallen apart, and they'd stopped being a nice place to be. I'd also figured out how to mask very heavily by then, so I thought I was going to be a normal person who didn't need that, anymore. It wasn't until years later did I realize how much I needed it. I think that some of them still exist today, but I'm sure they are nowhere near the same.
Amy, maybe this becomes a short story, or a flash fiction. It has a lot of emotion and action.
I can perhaps re-write it some other time. Most places won't take it, though, because it's already "published" here.
Such a sad story.
When I was living in Minnesota (which I loved because so many lakes were close to our house) it was 1991 to 1996. I had two kids under five, the third one in 1993. I remembered hiring students from the nearby college -- MacAlister? - to watch my crew for three hours a day while I worked.
Thanks, Pat. I was in Winona at the time. I moved to Minneapolis probably around 1996. I wish I had done more to contextualize this story, I think it would've gone over better if I had.
That is an intense set of memories. I had never heard of a ‘talker’. In 1995 I was on BBSs which sound very similar.
The one I was on was a computer bulletin board system where you could find other teens from places across Manitoba and Saskatchewan to chat with.
I also found it more real (much like our friendship) because it was based on words and thoughts without all the added stress of decoding the unspoken.
The fire and the subsequent loss by suicide…and the fact that no one talked about it…feels so accurate of that time period.
Did you ever go on the talkers again?
I kept going on talkers for a really long time, until around 2006 or 2007. By then, the community had pretty much fallen apart, and they'd stopped being a nice place to be. I'd also figured out how to mask very heavily by then, so I thought I was going to be a normal person who didn't need that, anymore. It wasn't until years later did I realize how much I needed it. I think that some of them still exist today, but I'm sure they are nowhere near the same.