entering in text data and losing the \n

From: Randy Johnson (rjohnson_at_seasidepc.com)
Date: 11/30/03 

To: <php-general@lists.php.net>
Date: Sun, 30 Nov 2003 00:52:31 -0500

I have a form with a text area.

When the user submits the data it is saved to a mysql database in a field of type text.

When I extract the data from the database and display it in php it loses the line return and the data is all crammed together. Here is an example

This is line 1
This is line 2
This is line 3

Here is what it would be after I extracted it and displayed it to the screen

This is line 1 This is line 2 This is line 3
 
What do I need to do to get it to retain the line feeds?

Thanks

Randy