Facebook! That social phenomenon we love to hate, we try to avoid, and we can’t seem to do without. I have too many friends on Facebook. There are ‘friends’ from high school with whom I was never friends in high school. I barely remember them from those days, yet we’re friends.
Facebook is a great tool for moms with young kids to stay connected, to laugh and share common frustrations. When I was a young mother with two small toddlers, in the middle of a brutal Montreal winter, a little connectedness would have gone a long way.
My number one fixation with Facebook is my grandchildren! My daughters-in-law are great to put pictures up often and that’s all I need to make my day. It’s also a great way to stay connected with family – my niece in Switzerland, and other nieces and nephews all along the Eastern seaboard, and my sisters and sisters-in-law (my brothers don’t ‘do’ Facebook).
I have a friend with a wonderful sense of humor, but she suffers with bouts of depression. Her candidness on Facebook makes me uncomfortable on the one hand, but on the other, I admire her honesty and her ability to reach out. Most people on Facebook give us the impression their lives are a party. Laura, at least, tells the truth always.
The most curious friend I have on Facebook I have never met. We’ve been friends for nine years now. I’ve seen her children grow up, I’ve envied the trips she’s taken, the cruises, the fact that she lives in southern California…This is how we ‘met’ – in January of 2009, she did a search on Facebook – she typed in her birth name – Margery McDonald – besides her own, mine was the only other profile that came up. So we became friends. Now her husband has a rare form of cancer and is fighting for his life. Their kids are in their teens – too young to lose a parent; too young to deal with such pain.
I stay out of the political fray on Facebook; I don’t rant…and I ignore those who do. That was not the original intention of this social network – it was meant as an opportunity to connect with people – not to degrade, engage in hostile exchanges or rail against others’ political or religious leanings. Lately, I see it as an opportunity to pray – for Margery’s husband, for Laura, for my niece in Switzerland, with Crohn’s disease.
So don’t get annoyed with all the things people choose to do, say, post and vent about– pray for them; pray for your friends on Facebook; pray for people around the world. It’s a soothing response in these troubled times.
