When strangers become friends.

I have a confession to make. I am a tumblr addict.

In fact, I'm not just a tumblr addict, I am a Bon Jovi tumblr addict.

Creeping out of the shadows and some would say shame of still loving a 1980s long haired rock n roll band came a group of people who joined tumblr to share pictures of the band we love. I am now 37 and life has brought me many obsessions, loves and musical lust varieties, but there has been one constant love affair that has held true, and that is Bon Jovi.

I first fell in love with Bon Jovi back in 1986. It was the shy smile of a long haired Jon Bon Jovi, the long legs encased in tight jeans of a Richie Sambora, the crazy hair of David Bryan, the teddy bear face of a Tico Torres and as he was never my favourite, I will say that Alec John Such was mildly shaggable due to being part of the band but let's just say he never did float my boat. I never forgot my love, that heated obsession that drove me to spend thousands of hours of my life reading Smash Hits hoping for even just a small amount of Bon Jovi news, watching endless VCR videos taped from TV, dreaming that one day Jon would marry me.

That depth of obsession is never easy to forget.

So I joined tumblr and started following various Bon Jovi themed blogs and messages of blog appreciation were sent back and forth and friendships began. For myself I have made 3 friends in particular: Ashley, a 21 year old from Pennsylvania, Gayle a 47 year old from Vancouver and Ingrid, a 21 year old from Finland. We joked and laughed and said dirty minded things that only true Bon Jovi fans would understand and it has been a constant in my life for some time now.

About 5 or 6 weeks ago we received news that Ingrid had been in a bad car accident and was in a coma. Over the next few days Ingrid had various surgeries including 2 brain surgeries. While in hospital I sent Ingrid a message with all my diary entries from 1986 and 1987 when I first began my obsession with the band, something highly embarrassing for me but from what I heard very entertaining for my friend. 

Ingrid was finally released from the hospital about 2 weeks ago and was so happy to be home, she was so grateful she survived and made mention of the fact that when she had her car accident she hadn't been wearing a seat belt, something so simple she said. The messages and support that was sent to Ingrid while she was in hospital showed me that no matter where or who you are if you have a heart then you can find a home to place that heart in. 

I last sent Ingrid a message laughing that I was planning a seek and find Bon Jovi bus trip across America so that us 4 girls could stalk the band and hopefully come home with many tales to tell. Last Monday night Ingrid sent a message to Gayle saying that she was scared as she had started to lose all feeling in her arm, Gayle replied with concern but no reply came back. 

Thursday Gayle received a message that after Ingrid had sent her message that she was scared, she had been taken to the hospital and diagnosed with a clot on the brain, medication was given but sadly it did not work and barely a few hours after sending Gayle her message, our dear friend Ingrid passed away from a stroke. 

I am devastated and I feel that I have lost a friend and some may not understand as this is a person I have never met but in today's technology and social network age it doesn't matter so much if no meeting has occurred as so many more things can be shared with total strangers sometimes more than your nearest and dearest. 

I am very sad for my friend and for the life that she felt she had a second chance at that was sadly taken away from her again but I am grateful that in this big world I managed to find her in the first place.

Willow xx

Willow (not her real name) is an afficionado of all things music, movie legends of yesteryear and pop culture. She has recently also discovered that she just might be psychic, as she can always accurately predict which window they're going to go through on Playschool. When she's not waving at her kids from her house across the road from their school she can be found trawling the net for articles to entertain her friends, dreaming of Sylvester Stallone or corresponding with her celebrity crush Benji Madden on Twitter. Oh and feeding her Twihard addiction.

Willow has a music blog at http://justajukeboxgurl.blogspot.com.au/, If you're looking for a new tune to discover or an old one to remember, head on over and check it out.