Teri, Terri and me


I "heart" Facebook! For months and months I resisted for fear I would be sucked into yet another black hole on the computer. I wrote it off as a social networking site for teenagers and twenty-somethings. I figured my kids would make fun of me for trying to be young and cool--both of which, according to them, I'm clearly not. I'm so glad I took the plunge. Where else can you make 89 friends in one day??? Talk about a self-esteem booster.

I think I was afraid there would be numerous requests to rekindle long-lost friendships when I don't give enough to the current ones. I worried I'd feel guilty for not sending a personal message with every "friending" confirmation. I thought it would be the same people on there all the time saying the same old things. Not so. Sure there are those folks who give 20 status updates a day and tag you in every type of note or quiz known to man. And yes you'll get friend requests from people and say "who is that???" or "I think you have me confused with my sister". But at the heart of it all, what I love the most is connecting--even if it's only once--with my former classmates. After spending our middle and high school years with the same people day in and day out, it's so satisfying to learn that life has turned out well for them. If you think about it, what a crazy concept that we basically grow up with each other, experience every teenage rite of passage, make zillions of memories together and then graduate. That's it. Sure we attend our ten year reunion, make promises to "get together real soon" but it never comes to fruition. Maybe the 20 year will be different. Instead it's the same story, different decade.

The picture above is me with my two BFF's from middle and high school. Actually the Terri in the middle and I have known one another since the first grade. The three of us have been trading messages on Facebook for the past three months. This last weekend my son had a soccer game in Tukwila so we met at The Cheesecake Factory for a 4 hour lunch. (yes the waitress was so pleased about that.) It was way more fun than the previous reunions combined. And cheaper.

I arrived first and asked the hostess what table she seated me at so I could call and tell the girls how to find me in the humungous restaurant. Her answer? "86"!!! Yes, the year we graduated!!! I know it's super corny but we loved the signifcance.



The sign Terri made with gum from under the table and her lipstick.

It was so good to laugh and just be together. There's something incredibly comforting about not having to give explanation from your growing up years because they lived it all with you. You don't need to preface any stories. It was like not even a year had passed since we last sat at KFC, in our brown polyester uniforms, having our dinner break. And yet we talked about our present day lives just as much as the past.

So if you're still resisting entering the Facebook world, give it a try. You might be surprised--and pleased-- at the outcome. I know I was. By the way, the Thai Chicken Pasta was fab!!