connecting with the past

Many friends talk about the fun they have had connecting with friends from the past on Facebook. It works for me. I am not a letter writer or a phone person. Without the computer, it would be tough for me to keep up with all the great people I have met over the years.

I have found my first best friend, Katie. Our families used to vacation in Ocean City together. I have memories or the beach and the house we stayed in. We lived a hilly woodsy trail away from each other. She had a hill near her house that I was convinced showed the curve of the earth. It was so perfect. We would sled on it in the winter and roll down it in the summer. We played in the stream that was near her house and decided our motto for playing in the woods was "never trust leaves!" Usually leaves hid the water underneath and if you were not careful you would get very wet feet. We dug out the trunk of a fallen tree and made a fort. Yes, Mrs. Blanchard, that is where that Indian blanket went.

I never moved growing up, so my friends from elementary school, continued to be my friends in junior high and high school. I just seemed to add more as the schools got bigger. I was always a drama queen in school, meaning, I loved to be on stage pretending to be someone else. The teachers used to let us act out "Welcome Back Kotter" episodes in 6th grade. Looking back it must have cracked them up. I looked forward to the chance when I would get to audition for the sixth grade operetta. We did "Snow Queen".

But I digress, I really was thinking about Facebook and forgiveness. Many friends have spoken of being contacted by people who were bullies in school. The wounds run deep. Forgive and "Friend"? or IGNORE. "Friend" and then let them know how it made you feel when they picked on you? So many choices.

I am sure I must have hurt feelings in school. Before Facebook,one boy told me I ripped the Valentine he gave me up in front of him in elementary school. I did not remember this, but I am sorry. I want to say sorry to everyone who's feeling I may have hurt. I was young, insecure and not particularly aware.

Facebook brings back so many memories, good and bad.

I am older and much more forgetful now but I remember those people I was not comfortable around because I thought they would be quick to point out my shortcomings. They probably did not even care. I tried not to be around them very much to avoid being hurt. I admired everyone who was good at math. I lost it around geometry. I wondered if everyone felt as lost in French as I did, even though I had been taking it for 5 years. I think I always felt that anything before college did not matter very much in the way of how it shaped your life. I wish I had studied more, that part DID matter. Funny how most of my connections from the past are high school. Are my high school memories stronger even though they are older? Could be because I don't remember last names of my college chums that I have not connected with them. College was a bit of a blur.

I enjoy the connections I have made with friends and acquaintances from the past. I see that we have so much more in common as we grow older. It does not matter what part of the country we live in. In some way we all connect through our jobs, families, sense of humor and I am thankful for that. I love when my local friends interact with my oldest friends without ever having met face to face. The world grows smaller every day and hopefully better through our friendships.

The Neighborhood

Does proximity of houses have something to do with how friendly you are with your neighbors? Or is it just that you have all chosen a neighborhood for the same reason and therefore have a common ground. I think about this quite a bit.

When we lived in a average neighborhood in South Austin, where the homes were about 20 feet from each other, we never really were social with our neighbors. We knew them enough to chat on the sidewalk at 11pm, let their cat play in our house, and knock on the door to ask why the hell they turned off our water from the main valve on the lawn. We did not know them well enough to ask them to watch the dog when we went away, to ask them to turn down the music so our walls would not vibrate or borrow a cup of anything. I did love

We moved to the country after four years of living in that 1300 sq foot home in south Austin. Our nearest neighbor for a long time was the one across the street, across the street and down a 500yard driveway, not so close. Basically neighbors are close for a walk but far enough away to not be heard in daily activities.

Last night I drove down the hill to Terri's. Dropped off the kiddo to play with her son. Her hubby was home to watch the boys so we talked horses for a bit and then went for a walk. A walk down the driveway, and across the street to Kellie's. We opened a bottle of wine, sat on the front porch, until the mosquitoes got the better of us, and chatted. We finished up the wine and headed back to Terri's. It was dark by then but we felt relaxed and happy. The boys were fed and happy as well.

This sort of thing happens all the time. I love it. We have impromptu pool parties, pot luck dinners, game night and you can always find someone to watch your kid for an hour or so if you need to get some work done. Then there are the planned events....wine and cheese parties, progressive dinners, food and toy drives, holiday parades and Halloween hayrides. Maybe it is because we all have our "space" from each other and maybe because of the isolation, we crave company. I have no idea. I do know when we were on top of our neighbors, we wanted nothing to do with them. Now I would not trade my neighbors and friends for all the money in the world. They make my life and my family's life infinitely better.