Facebook

I don't have cable tv. I don't care if I'm unaware of much of what makes our pop culture. I don't have a cell phone. I don't want people to be able to call me all the time. I have used e-mail for quite a while. To me, it just seems like a natural extension to the old-fashioned art of letter writing. (Especially for me since I used capital letters and punctuation.) I have resisted the idea of having a blog, but I gave in. That's all you need to know about that.

Last year, I spent many months trying to find some people from my past--especially people from my mission. I had a little luck, but not much. Then I thought of looking on Facebook for my favorite companion, Sister Beadle. Amazingly, there she was! It was so easy. I immediately got an account and guess what I saw? Pictures of Sister Beadle (now called Christie) and her husband and her kids. I could e-mail her, talk to her live (on-line chat) and send her pictures of my family. We got all caught up and it was FUN! I was still a little weary about Facebook.

My brother, Michael, found out I was on Facebook. He got all excited and added me as a friend. It was so interesting. I told him, "I have entered your world. Are you sure you want me here?" Turns out, he did. It was from Facebook that I found out he had a girlfriend. And then it was how I found out when he broke up with her. It was where I chatted with him to see how he was doing post-break-up. We had a little friendship.

Then I looked for my cousins. I have a fair few cousins on Facebook. Guess what? I have chatted with Judi, my cousin and former roommate, who now lives in Pennsylvania. I talk to Melanie and Gregg (who live in Georgia) and David (who lives in Layton) all the time. I love these people, but I never see them. I don't call them on the phone. I don't send them letters. It has been a great thing for me to rebuild relationships.

I have reconnected with college roommates. Some of them I haven't been able to keep track of for years. My roommate, Jen, was once among my closest friends. But she married a military man. They move so much and she isn't great at keeping in contact. I never know where she is. But now, wherever they move, I still have her on Facebook.

I have reconnected with so many of my missionary friends. I have conversations with people in New Zealand and Australia and Utah :) several times a week. I am loving this. I know people (i.e. my sisters--the ones who don't read blogs, either) who make fun of what they call my Facebook obsession. But I will tell you this: I enjoy my new social life. I have friends. They are mostly my old friends. I like them. If this is the only way we stay in touch with each other, that's fine. It's been more effective than any other thing I have ever tried. And you can make fun of me all you want. If I were you reading a blog like this six months ago, I would have openly mocked it, too.