The Mer Show -- Guest Blogger on Jenni-isms
Everyone knows that Facebook is a social phenomenon, but for me, it has been practically a life-changing experience. Seriously! When I first heard about it a few years ago, I equated it to My Space and blew it off, thinking it was way juvenile for a mature late 20-something like me (yeah, yeah, it was a few years ago). I refused to create a profile until Facebook became the hot new recruiting tool for finding fresh talent - I'm a technical recruiter and so it's really important to stay current with the hot trends in recruiting. So one day at work (baaad idea), I created a Facebook account in order to do some recruiting. Well, let's just say that it's been the most counterproductive decision I've ever made in 10 years of recruiting!!
Anyway, I was shocked at how many friends from high school and from different periods of my adulthood reached out and "friended" me. Quite frankly, I was pretty content to leave high school behind and never really looked back, but when I started reconnecting with old friends from Kingwood, many fond memories flooded to mind - I mean, I did go from preschool through graduation with everyone, so those memories encompassed my entire childhood! I revisited that time in my life for the first time in many, many years, it was pleasantly surprising! Over the last year of playing around with Facebook (OK, fine - more like using it on an addictive level), I have gotten to know many of my high school classmates better than I even did when we were in school together, and it's been really cool connecting as adults! I skipped our 10 year reunion a few years ago because I just felt so disconnected from that time in my life, but now that our 15 year reunion is coming up, I'm actually really excited about attending because I look forward to seeing some of my new-old friends (like Jenni!) in person after Facebooking for the last few months. It's going to be super fun!
Through this spectacle called Facebook, I also found out I had a half-sister I never knew about! Yep, she found me on Facebook about 6 months ago and reached out to deliver me the shock of a lifetime. Apparently my father had a brief marriage FIFTY years ago and had a daughter, but when her mother remarried, and the new husband adopted her, the ties with my father were severed completely. So now I have reconnected with childhood friends, gymnastics and cheerleading friends, college roommates, a few ex-boyfriends (still glad they're exes, by the way), and even a SISTER!!! Unbelievable.
One last unexpected benefit of this unexpected medium has been the Facebook Mommy Network (no, this isn't a "group", it's just my name for the group of mommies who have saved me from jumping off the ledge). I had a baby boy 7.5 months ago and admittedly went into motherhood having no idea what I was doing - really, I'm talking clueless except for what I read in books! I have relied so much on other moms who experienced some of the same challenges I have and have received so much great advice, support, and encouragement through the most challenging days of my motherhood experience. Not to mention that Facebooking through my iPhone while nursing got me through many, many sleepless nights with my son the first four months of his life. It was probably during those long nights, rocking and nursing a colicky baby for hours and hours that I got to know my new-old friends the best - I looked through everyone's profiles and pictures on my phone when the world was sleeping, yet my son and I were NOT. Thank God for iPhones and thank God for Facebook - it has truly gotten me through my son's infancy!!!
I'm sure at some point, my fascination with Facebook will end, as most of my obsessive pastimes do, but until then, count on me for daily updates on how my life is going and comments on all your photos, links, status updates, and notes. I'm the person that actually reads them. :)
Mer
