Although I voted to welcome Kimiiii back, I'm ambivalent about her return. On the one hand, I'm glad to see she's OK because I worried about her. That was some pretty serious stuff that happened here on the forum, and I assume that what we saw was only the tip of the iceberg. Whatever happened behind the scenes of NWO and in her personal life, I don't want to know--it's none of my business. But I can assume it was very traumatic for her and I empathize, even if I don't know the details. Her request to have her posts and her threads removed, although unpopular among the rest of us, must have seemed necessary to her at the time, given whatever personal situation she was in. Yes, some of the missing threads were classics, and some of the altered threads that remain now seem so disjointed. It's a loss for the forum, to be sure, but I can live with it, because it is, after all, just a message board.
Also, the fact that she wants to begin posting again after such a public upheaval speaks to her positive spirit and her desire to reconnect with people, even when she knows that her return will be controversial, to say the least. Her attempt to reconnect is a positive thing, it suggests personal growth, and I give her the benefit of the doubt.
On the other hand, her return stirs up a lot of bad blood on the forum that I'd rather not revisit. The board has been forever changed by the events surrounding her departure. The climate here is more cynical now--it's palpable. Some people here feel hurt by past events, and I respect their feelings, as well. I don't understand why she would want to subject herself to such animosity, or why she would want to reignite such controversy, when there are people here who clearly don't want her back.
I'm not picking sides. I don't know enough about the details behind the scenes. But I have a forgiving heart. I hope for the good in people, and I cheer for them to bounce back and learn from their actions. Goodness knows none of us is perfect.
BTW, beautiful post, Grunch.
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