LESSON #66 – THE JOY OF CONNECTING

There are many pitfalls being on Facebook.  I have been quite verbal about how addictive it can be and how it takes away from well…talking (out loud)!

However, there is another side of Facebook which I am sure you, too, have discovered.  It seems as if when I consider obliterating my FB account I always find new ‘old’ friends! Point being is that I LOVE two Facebook sites (which were recommended to me) and I find myself cruising them more than I would like to admit.

One site is geared toward remembering South Jersey (where I completed HS etc etc) and the other site is geared toward “my” Long Beach Island (LBI) where I lived for many years full-time and part-time.

What is great about this and absolutely amazing to me is how we can reunite with those we have not talked to, chatted with, caught up with, conversed with or passed the time of day with and, yes, not written to (does anyone write letters anymore?), or even, perhaps, thought about for decades and decades!  Quite the run-on sentence! Can you say 50 years?  Oh my!

The other day,  I was browsing through the LBI FB site and found a comment from someone whose name was very familiar!  Lightbulbs!  It was actually my stepbrother with whom I had lost all contact many years ago when my Father passed away.  Shocked but nicely surprised is an understatement.  One is never completely sure if the person you think they are is actually that person!  YES!!  Jackpot!  It was him and I am glad we caught up since his Mother was, after all, my Stepmother for many years.  Now we are  ‘friends’ on FB and I’m very happy about that.

I also received a Message from my stepsister!  Yay!  The circle is complete and I am thrilled to be back in touch with her as well.  ‘Friends’ on FB.  Score! Happy days for sure.

An old friend and neighbor from LBI contacted me after seeing one of my posts.  I haven’t spoken to her for years.  In fact, haven’t seen her since the mid-’70s.  Love that because she was part of my happy memories of LBI.  Score again!

There is a FB site just for those of us who graduated from our High School in 1967.  I treasure it because it has put me back in touch with friends from ‘back in the day’.  I love to see who is doing what, who is traveling where and where people live and to know the paths they have taken in their own lives.  We are involved with each other once again albeit from afar on FB.

Getting back in touch with people can sure conjure up beautiful memories that we have had tucked away in storage.  How fun is it to share memories with past friends only to have the memories come alive again? I am certainly not suggesting to live in the past but…

Those memories become more precious in our lives.  Friends help us remember.

If I am completely honest, some days I feel young and on other days I feel quite old reminiscing.   OUCH!   But I take the young and that damn old.   Embrace them, I have recently learned, and happiness surrounds us as we look back and remember.  We really don’t have a choice.

Thank you dear friends.

Cheers!!

Leigh

 

 

LESSON #39 – “SURE JAN”

WOW!  All I can say is that we never stop learning!  Nor should we.  Once again I am amazed and astonished (much the same thing) at what I just don’t know.

We were so happy to join in with good friends to celebrate our Goddaughter’s 12th birthday.  Oh, how they grow up so fast but that is another writing.  The ‘big sister’ of the birthday girl entered into High School this year and she filled us in on what we don’t know, never heard of, ignorant to, blah blah blah.  Not a complete list. All I can say is I am definitely feeling OUT OF IT (I was accused of this many a times while my own children were growing up and OLD (haven’t been accused of this as yet…at least to my face)

EMOS.  Hey people, wake up!  These are the ‘Goth’ of my children’s generation. You know…the high schoolers who used to be in all black.  My daughter had them as well as my son.  Now they are the Emos group.  Black clothes, black makeup, black hair…..Black may be beautiful and Black Lives do Matter…but not talking about that.  Get with it people!

FURRIES!  Wait for it!……In this present day we all need to express ourselves.  High Schoolers as well.  Some believe they should have been born as one of our four legged friends beloved as they are.  Yep.  Cats, dogs, lions and tigers and bears OH MY!  These Furries go to school with tails and ears.  Sooooooo cute I say!  No problems say the Administrators.  You may pet them (on their heads) but don’t pull their tails.

MEMES.  We played this game.  I had no idea that there were Memes all around us, what a Meme was or is and my older Goddaughter informed us that there are levels of complexity to the Memes.  OH NO!  God help me.  I don’t completely get it all but I am trying.

GAYS.  As stated in previous blogs I have no trouble with the Gay population.  Everyone deserves to find happiness.  However, in our present day High Schools Gays are being extremely affectionate in the hallways during class breaks.  NOT THAT affectionate but affectionate short of THAT…you know!  We never discussed heterosexuals ‘making out‘ in the halls (‘Making out’ is my High School term back in the day.  Not sure whether they say this term now.  But, hey, this blog is for the Senior Class after all.  (Is it OK to say ‘Gays’?)

Personally, I try not to judge what is going on in this day and age.  Everything is changing so quickly.  I remember one day in my CHHSW school days that two girls walked into the school with granny dresses on.  Oh my….I thought the administrators were all seized by apoplexy and these girls were sent home immediately to dress appropriately.  Dumb then, certainly wouldn’t happen now.  Not with everything else going on in the hallways. Granny away!

FACEBOOK.  Sorry you are on the way out.  Figures!  My husband JUST set up his FB account only to see family photos posted and get back in touch with ‘old’ friends. Better late than never?

HELLO INSTAGRAM AND SNAPCHAT.

Snapchat launched in 2011 and basically is a photo and video messaging app.  Those photo and videos last only a short time, seconds, before they self destruct.  Think about it Seniors.  Why do you suppose this app is so popular?  We weren’t born yesterday!!

Instagram is another photo and video app.  Instagram enables users to share their photos and videos on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Flickr.  Sorry, DK about Tumblr and Flickr and will admit never heard of them.  Whatever.

EMOJIS – Aren’t these just the cutest.  I think we all got this, yes?

These are the times that make man great.  What?  Well, maybe not great per se but informed and I intend to stay informed even if it is by way of talks with my Goddaughters.  I will have to see them more often and catch up.  LOVE them both with my thanks.

I must admit.  I want to know what happens with the Furries and the Emos and I must learn the ins and outs of the Meme complexities.

Happy learning y’all!

Leigh

Sure Jan

Check it out!  This is a Meme albeit a complex one!