Facebook Posts, Fence Posts, Rail Posts and Touchstones...

So I have to confess. I love Facebook. I know it isn't popular to admit but there it is. I am on and off of it pretty quickly; a couple of times a day and definitely more at night if my husband is traveling (which he usually is) and I am just hanging out. It has been so great to reconnect with old friends and see the mix of friends who comment on my posts.

Now many of these people don't know each other but may have heard stories about each other. Edith, D and E know all so I love getting phone calls from them after they sees a name they recognize. Like this one. "Hey Anne, I just saw xxxa is a new friend of yours. Is she the one that you tried to smoke cigarettes with in 7th grade and threw up on?" Well ELR, yes she is. She now lives in the Midwest and still loves Led Zepplin. Or the call of "I saw so and so post about your family and sleepovers you had in third grade and laughed so hard thinking about the story you told us in college about your group of friends trying to contact Abraham Lincoln" (we were a strange but fun group of girls in elementary school).

These are the friends that I long ago dreamt about life with, shared laughs with about simple things and we talked talked talked. We talked about what a first love or great love would be, where we would live or visit as we grew up and if we would marry or not. Even their siblings are a huge part of our stories. How else would we have learned terrifying things about what happens as you mature; how to properly tp another block in our neighborhoods or make the perfect ice/snowball. Older brothers breaking up seances and prom dates, or in some cases - becoming the prom dates. Older sisters either ratting us out or sharing information with us so we weren't surprised by anything. Conversations of what if, should I or would we. Most of us moved around a lot as a result of our parents' occupations and lost touch in the process. These friends provided the stability and helped shape my values, humor and sensitivity. These are my Fence Posts.

Then there were the college and post college friends. I think of them as the Rail Posts. They connected my younger self to my older self. They were, and now are, a key part of the continuum of it all. See they were around for the I did whats? I should have or we wouldn't have. They have the stories that could keep anyone of us from running for elective office. And rumor has there are pictures too but I am not buying it. We reconnected through Facebook and learn about each other's current lives. You see, they know the younger version and not the snapshot of my current life.

And finally the Touchstones. (You know who you are.) Facebook for us is a reason to call and laugh or provide quick needed updates or news, some good and some sad. You ladies know all of the old stories and now we continue the dialogue. We keep each other grounded. Time tested friendships that reset reality when necessary. You laugh me out of a bad day or listen when I need an ear; you tell me what I need to hear as opposed to what I want to hear. We have dressed each other for weddings, helped heal broken hearts, had girls' trips and held each other as we buried parents or siblings. I'll never forget a certain trip to Nordstrom before a funeral and D deciding that was the day to introduce us to Hanky Pankys for comfort. Collectively we are Gail and Oprah combined with Ethel and Lucy. But that is a whole other Facebook Post..

Through Facebook I have connected with the most important people in my life outside of family. You put the fenceposts in, connect them with railposts and move on to the next section. You don't forget them, you just move on. Sometimes you have to check them and sometimes you never really see them again. Facebook Posts, Fence Posts, Rail Posts and Touchstones...