O.K. so I’m one of those people . . . one of those people I never thought I’d be. The kind of person I joked about . . . yep, that kind. The kind that admittingly likes Facebook. My mom signed me up. Posted my profile picture. And all I could think was, “This is silly. Who does this? Who has time? Who looks at this regularly???”
I do. And I’ll tell you why. It’s not because I’m writing Wall-to-Wall regularly (I’m more of a voyeur, just watching and reading). It’s not because I want to be noticed. It’s not because I’m lonely. It’s because I was lost and now I want to be found.
I have returned to friends from childhood and college long after I thought those chapters had closed. Friends who were looking for me. Friends I didn’t know mattered to me as much as they do. And they do. They are my history. My memories. Part of me. A part of my life that felt very much behind me.
My life is full now. Full of the present. Full of my husband and children. Our animals. Our home. But there are parts of me my husband and kids will never know. Parts of me imprinted on my childhood memories and friendships. Parts of me that were sowed and planted long before I knew how I would grow and where those seeds would scatter. All the way from Michigan to Tennessee. And beyond.
And it’s the reminders of these parts – of finding parts of myself again amidst the names, and the comments, and the memories of the past. In the reaching out, responding, searching, and affirming connections that I had let go of or simply left behind. These connections are bridges to who I once was and who I have become.
I am wrapping myself in these connections as January draws to a close. They are truly reminders that I am never alone. No disparate pieces of me, simply parts of a whole that make me more myself than I ever could be when I was closing doors and finishing chapters. The story goes on, each friendship within me, carrying me further than I ever could have managed on my own.
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