it's easy to forget there are real people behind internet comments, but somehow I never ever ever feel that anyone posting on TORn isn't real.
It's always felt like a warm, inviting, open gathering of friends and family to me- some have known one another for years, some bicker like siblings on certain subjects, some are new and still trying to figure this all out, but all share a common love of Tolkien and his works
That is largely due to the wonderful efforts on the part of the mods- the mediators of this zany, crazy family of tornsibs Who aren't afraid to tell us to shut up once in a while
So essentially the mods are the "moms and dads" of TORn
Can you tell my kids have been fighting today? lol
After venturing out on my own as an independent consultant a few years ago, I've been blessed with clients who love me, but they literally demand 120% of my available 'for work' time. The highest priority for my time after that is to spend time with husband, family and friends (in that order). After all of the above, I have little-to-no time left to volunteer to any causes (now, and for the foreseeable future). However, because we both feel 'giving back' is extremely important, we make it a point to give generously financially to St Jude's (childhood cancer) and to a local shelter.
I subscribe to emails from the local shelter about what they need, and used to do shopping trips just for them: drive to the store, shop, drop off at the shelter. That was a blast, even though as a middle-aged woman, I got some very raised eyebrows the time that I checked out with nothing but diapers, baby formula and baby food! However, as fun as it was, nowadays I don't have the time to even do that; so we make sure they get as much, if not more, via financial donations.
We then always reserve some donations for the inevitable natural disasters: the Christchurch earthquake, the Colorado floods last year, the Haiti earthquake, etc.. We try to divide the extra financial donations between U.S. and New Zealand charities to honor both of our origins, even if they're not in the same year.
9 /
26%
Who aren't afraid to tell us to shut up once in a while 
