Bon Anniversaire!

Perhaps those outside this site will find it strange to wish a Happy Birthday to a website, but OD is more than some inanimate web page or a faceless corporation. It is a community, and a community is subject to the same growth and the same growing pains that any of its individual members is subject to. Thinking back on the time I’ve been here, I can see that Open Diary is sometimes more human than some people I’ve met. It’s had its ups and downs, its crises and its heroes. The times when we thought we would lose this place through lack of funds and the way those of us who were able did our best to keep it up and running. Then the time when we almost did lose this place and some of our memories with it.

I found Open Diary through bored.com when I was perhaps a sophomore in high school. I realize now that I may have been one of the first 5,000 members, though my original diary is long gone, a victim of my own laziness when it came to updating in those days. Suffice it to say that my entries more than likely centered on my crushes, my boyfriend, color guard and general teenaged drama. I’ve had this diary since the spring of my senior year, my first entry: April 19, 2001. Those entries are all private now… my effort at putting the past behind me without losing the lessons that very foolish time in my life has taught me. All my new entries are public, and I let anyone note me. Yes, that leaves my entries open to those who dislike me enough to be nasty, but what I’ve always loved about Open Diary is the sense of community. And not everyone in the community will always agree.

I’ve met some amazing people through this site, though perhaps "met" isn’t the right word. I’ve been reading some of my favorites since high school, others since college. I once considered a relationship with one, and one was with me on my wedding day. They’ve advised me and listened to my rantings and my sorrows and stood by me more than some of my "real" friends. To be fair though, I don’t tell anyone in real life the things I’ve told my diary and this community.

I love this place and the people in it, far flung as we are. I love it enough that even in the leanest times, I’ve paid to retain my "Plus" membership. I get genuinely upset when the site is down, because what would I do without these wonderful people?

The DiaryMaster has created a site, but we created Open Diary, because what would it be without the people who write here?

~Liz