Kicking and Screaming

I'm a little bit stubborn.

No.  Really!

I don't like to be forced to do something.

Who does, really?

As a teenager, I wasn't influenced by peer pressure a whole lot.

As I have (ahem) got older, I feel a little more swayed by the people around.  My head is so tired from all of the decision making I have to do regarding my three children.  So if a group of my girlfriends and I go out to lunch, there might be a place I really want to go, but I'll just say, "Wherever everyone else wants to go is fine with me."  Then when we go to the decided upon location, I'll agree how this was the best place to go.

See?  Going along with the crowd.  Don't want to muddy the water.  It's all good.

I've also never been one to fall for whatever is the latest fad.  Give me a timeless classic and I'm happy.

Years ago, everyone else was texting and there I was, still emailing.

During my kids' baby and toddler years, I was just too busy with them to worry about keeping up with all of the newest technology and social media.  I don't consider myself old fashioned, necessarily. 

But here I am now.  I have come to accept the facts of life and it is this...

FACEBOOK IS NOT GOING AWAY!

I truly believed that it was just a fad and would go away and all of my friends, (real friends!) would curse the time they had wasted posting what they had for lunch and the fact that their washing machine died on them.

It's been a few weeks now since I finally succumbed to the ways of the world and opened a Facebook account.  Honestly, I don't get what all of the fuss is about. 

Do I regret the time I have spent on it so far?  Yes.

Is it a great way to reconnect with old friends and far off relatives?  Yes.

Am I truly friends with everyone on my 'friend' list?  Yes and no.  Some are, in fact and honestly, just really good acquaintances.

Here's what finally tipped me over to finally taking the Facebook plunge: 

Last Summerr, and old friend of mine, one whom I'd lost touch with, keeled over on a routine run, was rushed to the hospital, diagnosed with brain cancer and then embarked on a hard-fought battle to save her life.  I didn't find out about it until her family's annual Christmas newsletter arrived in the mail last December.  It was just too overwhelming for her and her husband to contact every single person they knew to fill them in on what had happened.  If I had been on Facebook, I would have known about it way back when it happened and could have been praying for and reconnecting with her a long time ago. 

Another friend of mine that I once worked with but had, once again, lost communication with, lost her mother.  I wish that I had known when it happened so that I could, at the very least, send a sympathy card or call her to offer my condolences.  I would have found out, had I been on Facebook.

So, Facebook is here and it's here to stay.  I have accepted this as a fact of life and I have joined too...

Kicking and screaming all the way there.