Chatterbox: Chirp at Cricket

On January 13, 2015, I made my first ever post on the CB.

It was not under my alias; the person who wrote it believed in excess OMGs and insisted that awesomer was a word. She was a stranger, a childish ten-year-old who had popped on, just for a moment, and was attracted by a thread title.

Well, look at her now.

Two years is all it's been. Just two. I'm twelve now, thirteen in two months; seventh grade. I've grown more than barely any of you can imagine, and really, it's all thanks to this wonderful place.

The CB.

Two years ago, my writing was garbage. I thought it was brilliant. It wasn't. It was trash. Even the stuff from my sixth grade year I feel okay with scoffing at; some things I write, even now, deserve to be burned in the pits of Hell. But I've advanced. And it's because every RP, from the ones that finished to the ones that barely got five posts, helped me just a little bit. And little by little I've gotten better. So much better. So good that the amazing Ruby M. has said that mine is some of the best writing he's ever seen on the CB.

I'm not perfect. Nobody is. I allow myself to accept the flattery, but I know that I'm nowhere near the level I want to be. And that's okay. But you guys have helped me so, so much in getting there, and for that I thank you.

I thank you for being there when nobody else was; and not just for me, but for everyone. We speak of ourselves as a body-- the CBers-- because that's who we are. And I want to explain why, today.

The CBers are writers and readers and artists. We're the introverts, the nerds, and we're proud of it. We have different opinions on some things and mostly we resolve them peacefully. We're fangirls or fanboys; we're never throwing away our shot. We're people who care and people who help and people who welcome. And I am honored to be a part of this group.

A CBversary thread is supposed to be about the person celebrating. So I suppose I'll break a few rules. Today, I am not celebrating myself; I am celebrating us. I am celebrating two years of being part of this amazing body, tucked into the corner of the Internet, the decent people who will make this wretched place into a beautiful world.

And you know what? Sometimes I feel neglected. I'm on the CB every day, but I don't post as much as I used to. Sometimes I'll type up a long reply to a thread and then delete it; I don't want to post it, it's childish, whatever, who cares. It's my own fault that I'm not the first people compliment or picture. And that's okay. I've been here two years, after all. I'm a bit outdated.

Or am I?

Is two years really so long?

So many people here say it is. So many people call me an "oldie." They marvel at how long I've stayed with this place, through thick and thin. But I don't think so. I've been put in perspective by talking to BHR and CaykeTheCook and True; the people who were the "oldies" when I was the "newbie." Two years isn't so long. They were around for longer.

I'm flattered that so many people have said they look up to me. I'm flattered when you tell me that you're so impressed at how long I've been here. But I'm not impressed with myself.

So today, I'm making a goal.

I want to stay until 2019.

I want to be here, still here, when all of my old friends come rushing back. I want to be here, watching people come and go, generations unfold. I want to be here, and be one of the only ones who still recognizes the names of the people who come back, tell us how they are, introduce themselves. I want to be here to grin at old friends and type exctatic replies back.

And I want to, when I am finally forced to depart this place myself, come back every month. I never want to go. I want to come back and make sure that I can still watch the CB grow and change, and I want to still be watching it when I'm thirty, forty. 

This place means the world to me.

Admins, CBers, I love you all, and today in particular I want you to know that.

And please, never, ever change.