Yes, I've lost online friends -- see the list Wendy posted. Yael's death was a shock. And it was a case in point, as I recall, because it was months after her death until a sister wrote to the fanfic list to get Yael unsubscribed. I wasn't that close to her, but it still upset me.
I don't think my husband would take any time to contact my online buddies if anything horrible happened to me. But I have some real-life local FOLC friends (hi, Annie! <g> ) and there are a number of people out there who have my real address & phone no., so if someone was really worried, they'd be able to call/write to check things out. Kelley knows about my online friends, so if one of them contacted him, he'd explain. But I doubt he would take the initiative.
More generally, though, if I disappear for a week, check the Weather Channel. I might just have lost power (again) for days at a time...
PJ
