Why I like Facebook.

So - we are living in a very modern age.  An age where time  and distance don't really get in the way of much.  Especially relationships.  I am not a computer geek - I struggle with a lot of the techno lingo and jazz, but I love my email and my facebook.  I don't twitter. Heck, I only just got a cell phone in August and still don't know how to text efficiently.  But Facebook has become my best friend.  Some people think it's a stupid thing.  Some judge me saying the relationships I have on there are shallow and vain.  I see it very differently.  Some people may say I waste a lot of time on the computer playing on FB.  I daresay, some days I do.  I have to watch myself.  My sister even told me to stop when I was getting a bit too "computer-focused".  But I have to say, Facebook actually makes me happy and has broadened my scope of friendships and connections.
     When I went to boarding school we didn't have internet.  Holy crap - now I feel old!  But it's true.  We had computers, but they were for school papers, etc.  Letters / communication was done in print form.  We had typewriters as well.  I love typing on old typewriters - there is something romantic about it all (sorry, I digress).  This being said, I lived thousands of miles away from my family while at boarding school in Penang, Malaysia and the only way to keep in touch with them was via pen and paper and perhaps the rare expensive phone call.   The school even scheduled letter writing time on Sundays' after lunch and church.  We had this really thin paper and I would write pages and pages.  One letter a week. That was my "being in touch" with family.  I didn't mind it cause I didn't know any different.  I loved getting mail from back home in Canada.  Those were exciting days when I could see something in my mail box as I approached it.  I would suck in every word, absorb every story.  Staying connected to people at home was very important to me.  I had friends from school write, from church, and I still have all the letters!  Crazy I know - but those letters are my diary of my growing up years.
     I don't write letters anymore.   Sadly, hand written notes are quickly shrinking into the vortex of history.  Email was an exciting new facet in my life after high school.  Having gone to boarding school and having all of my friends disperse around the globe upon graduation day, it was fun getting emails and keeping in touch.   The only problem was, if I didn't have your email, how could I find you?  I had lovely friends in Norway, New Zealand, Australia, the USA, England, Italy - all over...but if I didn't have their email address  - well, they were lost to me.  I was the odd one of many groups and did have a lot of their emails and was often the one at parties filling everyone in on the goings ons of our common buddies.
     But now there is Facebook.  I admit, I am a bit of a junkie.  I love  finding people and I love being "found".  I have friends whom I adored and haven't seen since I was 17 and probably won't see for many more years, but I am, once again, connected with them.  I love keeping these relationships alive.  I am, I guess, a relationship junkie.  I get high on having friends.  I love sharing histories.  I love sharing stories.  I love sharing our lives...albeit on a computer screen, it is way more than I could have ever hoped for.  I think it's so cool that I can see my friends kids in their pictures.  I get a kick out of live chats - it's like the years have melted away sometimes and I am a kid again, just having a laugh.  I love how I can have chats with different friends in different locations / countries at the same  time.  We just celebrated a big win for our Canucks hockey team.  But I was able to have hilarious conversation with Gavin in San Jose, Alenne in Vancouver and Meredith in Georgetown...we had a rip roaring time talking hockey talk.  How could I have ever done that before?  It's so my kind of thing.

     Here is a cool Facebook story.  My dad went in for brain surgery in Vancouver in September.  I was there for it all.  After his surgery I went into see him in recovery.  I chatted with him and then left to go home.  At home the next day I got a message on my FB from an old friend I went to elementary school with who was a fb friend.  Kevin Lechleiter.  He asked about my dad and then shared that he was in the recovery bed by dad and over heard the Nesimiuk name and figured it was me!  I hadn't seen Kevin since we were little punks!  He said he was in a room just down the hall from my dad!  I had spent the day previous sitting next to his lovely wife as we both awaited anxiously for news of our loved ones in surgery.  I had no idea!  So I got to the hospital quick as a wink and went to see him!  I would never have known I had an old friend who had brain surgery - who was right there for me to see had it not been for Facebook!  It was an exhilarating reunion and proved to be a huge blessing for all of us!
     I am a very social person.  I love people.  Of course I would rather be sitting down having a drink with my friends and being able to  give them a hug.  But if I can't, then I thank my lucky stars I can see them on my computer  screen, share pictures of our goings ons and swap old war stories.  Facebook makes my losing so many friends to so many different places not so hard.  And it helps me keep in touch with the ones close by.  Life is busy and I am not always able to go for drinks....and I am not a phone person - so I can drop a quick note to a girlfriend and check in, comment on her hair, tell a buddy he's a funny guy, gurgle about their adorable kids and holiday photos.   I know it's just a computer thing - but I truly feel more connected with people because of FB.  Yes, it's a time waster....but I would much rather waste my time with my cyber friends than do laundry any day!