Got to thinking how long I have been a member of this great community. Checked my sign up date on CS and today marks one year since that fateful day that I found you folks.

To use an old saying, time sure does fly when your having fun. The past year has been one hell of a ride. I came here looking to buy a few "quality" cigars and what I have gained is so much more. Yes, I have learned more about cigars in the past year than I had in the previous fifteen. I have also been thrown head first down a side of the slope that I knew nothing of and have no desire to look back.

I have gotten involved with troop support and the great guys that make that incredible program work. Something I'm sure that would not have been done had I not found CA.

However, the true benefit of what I have gained by being here lies with the people I have met and the friendships that have been forged. Close friendships have been developed with people I have yet to even see in person. I find that amazing and very difficult to explain to anyone outside of our group. Outsiders just don't get it.

I also have been fortunate to experience first hand the unrelenting generosity and support that graces this board by it's founders and members. You are a very special group of people that have forever changed my life and the lives of my family.

Thank you for the past year and I am looking forward to many more.

(Two serious posts in the same day. Thank God Monday is only a day away! :-))


As always, wishing each of you the best life has to offer.
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well said:-)
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Bravo!
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They have indeed. :-)
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Great post Al! Congrats on the 1 year!
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Congrats Al, can't believe that we have put up with you for a whole year.:-)
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Congrats on the year Al!!
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Believe me Al, it's been a long year since you showed up. :-)
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Is that you, Pot? :-)
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Leave me alone, baldy. :-)
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I could do that with just a touch of a button. :-)
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It's like that now, huh Peter? :-)
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When they get cranky, "The Button" always rears its ugly head!:-):-):-)
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Well said Al!!!

I am less than a month away from my first year and feel exactly the same way!!!

Thanks for keeping thing interesting this past year!!!
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7 months of bantering with Al (and the Massholes and the chat crew) for me, but it feels like an eternity. If someone told me a year ago that I would plan a holiday to the States to go on a roadtrip to meet with a lot of friends and herf with them I would have called them crazy, but yet, if they would have told me that, I had to apologize to them now and tell them they were right :-)
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Nice post Al. This is a phenominal place with the greatest people.:-)
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Youre getting a bit soft in your old age there Al!

But, I will have to agree with you on this one. This is a wonderful community that cannot be fully appreciated unless you are a part of it.
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Glad to be your friend my brother!! Looking forward to the day we meet! :-)


Congrats on 1 year!!

We're all the better because of your involvement my friend!!
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Thanks for all you contribute, no matter what some of these other knuckleheads might say. :-)
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Terrific post, Al. I couldn't agree with you more.


And thank you for all of your outstanding contributions to this community over the past year! Well done!:-)
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