As a relatively new member, on this occasion I feel like a kid standing on an old pedestrians stone bridge. The bridge may have lost some of its original shine, but its foundations are sound and people are still using it, some of them longer than anyone but themselves remembers. You can still greet people on the bridge, stand by the side and talk with them, or just marvel together what's going on in the town nearby or what is brought by the river below. But there is also the feeling, that many people have been on the bridge, that many a friendship was made, many an argument broke out, that the bridge saw many a laugh and tear. The mute witnesses of these past times can still sometimes be seen carved on the walls, but the experiences remain lost to the newcomer forever.
Best wishes for your ninth birthday, GOF, and may the next year always be a better one.
