Hi Hywel, Ariel and fellow forumers;

The title of this post is perhaps a bit ironic in that a conclusion of it is that you are going to be hearing a lot less of me in the future, particularly when I have barely posted here in about three months (so actually maybe things aren’t changing so much after all!).

As some of you might be aware I have had a long term girlfriend – probably all the time I have been a member of this site. We met during our respective university studies, but work has conspired against us a little and in the 7 years we have never lived with each other. Whilst this is perhaps not the best way to continue with a relationship it has meant that I can be an active (ish!) member of this site – attending Hywel/Ariels photo tutorial towards the end of last year. As I have discussed on this forum in the past whilst we have experimented with bondage in our personal lives it is fair to say that she is not as ‘in’ to it as I am. I have never introduced her to Restrained Elegance – we have enough in common away from my membership of the site that, whilst it would be really nice if we could share this as well, my feelings for her would not change if she wasn’t interested and, in that her taking it well can not be assumed, I have always decided against it.

At the beginning of this year we decided that something was going to have to change in our relationship. Long-distance relationships suck for so many reasons. Fortunately my job is as secure as any at the moment and she is in a job that enables her to move location quite easily and so she found work down near where I live/work. This job starts in about a month’s time and in the coming week we shall move in with each other for the first time. In further exciting news we got engaged about 6 weeks ago and are planning a fairly short engagement (wedding early next year).

And so we come to the crunch of this post. Though I remain as enthusiastic about the fantastic site that Hywel has created here, a site that I have been a member of pretty much since the beginning, my priorities have changed and I would not want to jeopardise my future life by continuing my active participation of this site. Now don’t get me wrong, I am not about to do anything too hasty, we will both have our own PC’s and there will be the odd evening when I am home alone when I am sure I will be visiting the site/forum however I can’t see, for example, my being involved in future members chats nor can I see me being able to post too often on this forum.

Please excuse the slightly indulgent post, I couldn’t imagine just disappearing unannounced, over the years I have come to regard some of the regulars in here as friends even though I have never met the majority of you (I did of course meet Hywel, Ariel and a couple of you at the tutorial). I would like to thank you all for some good chats and humour over the years. Final thanks to Hywel, Ariel and the rest of the behind the scenes crew. The site is a credit to you all and it has been fantastic to watch it grow from strength to strength since those early days.

Have a good weekend

CD.