Do you know how important YOU are to this board?

I sure don't think anyone should cycle off the board.  That happens naturally anyway as people become busy and life gets in the way.  I hate to see that because we need all voices.
One thing I would love to see if more of the old timers posting on the graduates board.  I really like it but there isn't a lot of action.  Newcomers aren't the only ones that need support and your wisdom would be very welcome (by you I mean the people over 1 year out).
I don't think anyone should tell anyone how they should post.  That defeats the purpose.  Now I wish I didn't say anything.  It was just that you were so nice to talk about appreciating everyone and it made me think about all the posts that pay homage to just one person as if the others weren't as important.  I don't have the answers because as I said, I would never tell anyone what they should post.  This isn't elementary school where we all have to be fair.  Fair is where pigs win prizes.
Maybe, though, before someone posts a thread thanking someone they should think about all the people who have tried to help, too, and maybe be sensitive to them
OK, here's an experiment.  You don't have to do it if you don't want to.  Everyone who feels like they have tried to be as helpful as possible who hasn't had a thread made for you, does it bother you?
Maybe I'm just a freak but I am being honest, it hurts.  Like I said, I DO NOT want a thread about me.  That isn't the purpose of me talking about my feelings.  If I am the only one that has felt slighted then I will own that I am a horrible person who only thinks about myself.
I am talking about people who have been around a while and feel like they have given the best they have to give.

I get what you're saying. I think I was just waxing philosophical for a bit.

I get excited about this board because it's the first place where I've felt very important. If you saw me in my regular life, I'm quite insignificant in every other realm. My family is full of histrionics, I'm the low man on the totem poll at my job and being a parent is important but with pre-teenagers you are no longer the rock star you were six years ago.

So...I admit I let my head get big sometimes and enjoy the attention but I don't like the thought that doing that might take anything away from anyone else.

Just thoughts dahling. Like I said, you all are stuck with me - for better or worse.

"Everyone who feels like they have tried to be as helpful as possible who hasn't had a thread made for you, does it bother you? Maybe I'm just a freak but I am being honest, it hurts."

I can guarantee that you are NOT the only one.  I'll be honest... I cringe a bit when I see them because I know that there are many people who are going to feel exactly as you do when they see them.  The people who post them clearly do so out of a heartfelt place, but I don;t think they consider how it makes others feel.  I have always thought PMs were more appropriate, but that is just my opinion.

Lora

Exactly!  I understand appreciating help and I hope I show my appreciation but I try to do that in real time, when someone helps me I hope I thank them right away.  If I feel like they  have gone out of their way I try to PM them.
All you people are so important to me and have helped me so much.  I would hate to single anyone out and have anyone feel slighted.

I guess my take on this is that those of us who have chosen to stick around long-term generally have certain areas that we tend to focus on but that we "surrender" posts about other areas to the newer folks.  I, for example, only rarely even open a post about someone having trouble eating or drinking after surgery or about stalls (I almost never do so intentionally, but sometimes the post title (like "help!)  doesn;t tell you what the post is about and occasionally I will reply if I have already opened it).

Because of my educational and job background, I feel like I have a lot to offer as far as the psychological and emotional aspects (even if people don't want to hear that often just having surgery on your body isn't enough).  Then there is also just the experience of being 4.5 years out and the various changes in perspective that simply being that far out brings.  I think the people who are less than a year out need to hear those.

Lora

You know what's interesting to me? New, new posts sort of make me look back on myself newly post-op and I see how different a person I am now than I was back then. And how even more different I am now than I pre-op. It's surreal.

I honestly see you as my "foil." I always look to you to have a more down to earth perspective than me and tell it like it is and hold NO punches. I appreciate that so much about you.

If my head gets to be a balloon I know I can count on you to be my needle. ;)

"more down to earth perspective" and "hold NO punches"... 

My father was a Marine.  That pretty much explains it all, LOL... and why sometimes things come out more bluntly than intended.

Lora

You know what this forum needs?  A  button or a button.  That would be a way to let people know they have helped us without any muss and fuss.

Aww, Ladytazz, I'm sorry you feel that way. Your posts are very helpful to me, especially when I was a very early out and thought that I would be the only one the RNY didn't work for.  

I don't always post, but I read every day. I like hearing what my 'tribe' has to say.