Friendship, Facebook and everything in between

     You know it's funny.  One of the first things we do as parents when our children are old enough is to tell them "Don't talk to strangers", and "Never respond to a stranger online."  .  I really was not too savvy on the interent, and mainly used it to plan my daughter's bat mitzvah.  While planning her party, I found this group of women who were also planning their parties, and we would chat and email each other.  Several months down the line, we all decided to meet for lunch.  Little did I know that this would be the start of friendships with a special group of women, who really are like a family to me.  We have met for the past 4 years, formally at lunches, and informally for parties, dinner, concerts and unfortunately funerals.  I count on these women like they are my sisters.  Because they are.

     When I joined Facebook, about 3-4 years ago, I did so mainly to spy on my kids (yep, I said it!) and to just see what the hype was about, and play games.  One night just playing around, I decided to put in the names of people who I went to elementary school with, and up popped familiar names.  Little by little, we have found each other; from all over the country, all reuniting.  Some of us have known each other from 1st grade.  The funny thing is that I noticed that with some of the people, I may have gone through a lot of schooling with them, but we just will never be anything more than "Facebook friends".  With others, we have sort of found our way back and rekindled old friendships.  Its a nice feeling, to have found your past, and know that there are so many people to share old memories with.

     I started the discussion yesterday about anorexia not only because of the Today show segment, or because I have a teenaged daughter, but because through Facebook, I found out that one of my oldest friends died of it.  She died when she was 34.  I had lost touch with her in college, and we didn't have Facebook back then.  A mutual friend whom I found again on Facebook, told me that story.  I found an old picture of her and put it up on Facebook.  That picture engendered so many comments and brought back so many wonderful memories of our friend and each other.  It turned out to be a ccelebration of her life in a way.

     It also made me realize how lucky our children are now.  They will never lose touch with their friends.  They won't have to wait 30 years to find someone and renew a friendship.  And for all the "bad stuff" that Facebook does lead to, if we know our children and keep that parental eye on them, they can use the Internet for its bast possible use.

    How has Facebook and the Internet changed your life?  Have you found new friends and old?