When i joinded Fiddlerman.com, I did it for two reasons. 1) it was a free site that could teach me (hopefully) to learn one of my favorite instruments, the violin.  2) to enjoy the chatting with people all over about something I enjoy.  Again, the violin.  When I came to this site, my wife was working a lot and I was getting really bored around the house.  I looked at joining a chat room, but all anyone ever spoke about was sex and/or drugs. (Not something I have any interest in.)  I wanted a hobby to accupy my time and lonliness while my wife was working, and stumbled upon this site while watching a review on a Cecilio violin I was interested in. 

Since I have joined this site, I have made several new friends, (my wife and I are actually spending more time together also) , AND I have recently bought a violin and recieved one for free.  Two things I have really wanted, (three if ya count my wife and I adjusting our work schedules) have come to me. 

The thing with friends on the internet, is their is never really any connection.  People talk, true, but that connection is never there.  After i registered and became a member, I started looking at videos, and forums, just like everyone else, and I was hooked.  Within a few weeks I heard of a contest for Fiddlerman's sister site, violaman.com.  I began speaking with Kieth, (Mr. Headcheese of Violaman!) And learned about that site as well.  I also learned of a contest going on at the time in which HC was a participant.  Well as fate would have it, a situation arose about the contest, and HC bowed out so another person could win.  Very honorable of HC.  The prize was a brand NEW viola.   Then a forum post popped up out of nowhere, talking about how a few of the older ADVISORS got together and bought this man a Viola for his actions.  Strangers who have never met each other, aside from in the chat room and forum section, had pulled together and helped out a fellow member.  I was shocked.  No other site has members like that.  So from that moment I was hooked.  I began to talk to as many members as I could.  I wanted to have that type of connection with people.  Sounds silly i am sure, but to me, it is still a friendship.

As many of you know, I recently recieved a used violin from my aunt.  It is not anything expensive, in fact, I believe it is a $50, made in China, violin.  Well, it so happens that the day I got it, I tried to tune the old strings and my D string gave me that horrible sound of -twang!!-  That's right.  Day one, and I broke a string.  I didn't think much of it.  I had a backup vilin to play until I could get my string.  Well, I was in the chat bos, just chatting away with a few members, and casualy asked if anyone had a spare string.  My thought was, No one is gonna have one and if they do, it is not like I could get one from them.  I was just curious if anyone had spares, and if they did how many did they keep around for emergencies.  Out of the blue, one of the members said she has a spare and asked me for my address.  I was shocked.  I had spoken with CoolPinkOne several times, but not a lot.  She asked for my address and today, 4days after that conversation, I have a new D string on my violin!  Read that last part again.  CPO sent me, to my house, with no request for money or anthing, jsut sent me a D string out of kindness.  WHO DOES THAT??  Answer, No one!  But here, on Fiddlerman.com, we have a different class of people.

From the members who got together and bought HeadCheese a viola to this wonderful lady who sent me one of her extra strings, this site is full of nice, caring, selfless people who truly feel like family.  Having never seen me in person and oly knowing me about a months, this is a leap of faith in kindness.  For all she knows I will take the string and never show my face on FM again. (not gonna happen, but she didn't know that when she sent me the string.)  To her that string may not mean anything.  It may just be an extra laying around that she would never use anyways.  But to me...it is the last thing I needed to truly start a hobby I have been obsessing over for months now.  That simple little string means more to me than a $4M Strat violin.  And I just want to say Thank You.  Thank You so much for all your kindness. May God Bless you in ALL you do. 

(p.s.- I will not forget this, and I will pay it forward.)