Social Web Moment of 2009

Prompt for Dec. 27, 2009: Social Web Moment.

Sure, I use facebook and Twitter. In the last year or so I've caught up with dozens of friends from high school on fb, a very nice treat. Some of my former classmates have changed a lot, others not so much. I've also connected with a few friends from college days too. Yeah for fb forging connections that would otherwise probably never occur.

I have to say my most special connection occurred in the past month, courtesy of facebook. I "found" one of my first cousins, my only "girl cousin" named Sue who I have not seen or heard from since I was 7 or 8 years old. I barely remember meeting her since we lived in Aruba and her family was in upstate New York. Our respective families were never close (unfortunately and for reasons I never quite understood) so not only did I not know my cousin Sue, I didn't know her three brothers either.

Sue always fascinated me. My grandmother Shirley talked about Sue frequently. Stories of my cousin set off my curiosity; she was someone I wanted to know. Sue and my sister MM saw more of each other during their growing up years, perhaps because MM went to college in close proximity to my Grandmother Shirley and my cousin Sue. By the time I followed along at the same college 12 years later, Sue had grown up, was married and had moved "far away". I never had the chance to know her.

Sue and I shared some instant messaging on facebook recently once we made contact. I caught up on her life and children. She lives in southern California. There's so much more I'd love to know about her and I fantasize about a visit where we sift through common memories of our families, especially our shared set of Grandparents. Perhaps it will happen but I'll need to consciously pursue our connection and overcome my introverted nature.

We'll see.