F is for Friends

F is for friends. I've already made "friends" my ABC Wednesday word twice; "Faraway Friends" and "Feathered Friends". Today I give you "Facebook Friends".

Monday was President's Day. I got a little confused and thought it was George Washington's birthday, but that's not until Friday. Anyway, I pulled out an old photo taken from my parent's slide collection and posted it on Facebook with the caption, "Happy Birthday, George." The picture is probably forty-five years old, taken before a local Kiddie Parade, of a neighborhood child dressed up as George Washington. "How fun would it be , I thought, "to send him a link to my photograph?" so I looked to see if he had an account and found he did. (Since we had a friend in common, I knew he could see the photo.)

That same afternoon I received a reply. "Martha, do we know each other? And do I know this young man in the picture (he looks pretty familiar!)?"

I found myself smiling as I wrote back telling him who I was and where the picture came from. "I hope you know that young man," I said, "It's you."

Later that same evening I found a longer note that left a bigger smile on my face, a note with memories of not only my brother (they had been friends), but memories of my parents as well; my mother's uncanny way of befriending neighborhood children, my father's music, and Bible stories read at the dinner table. His note has left me thinking and trying to recall the person my mother once was.

Nostalgia has a way of catching up with us once we hit middle age, and such was the case with my new friend this week. I wonder what other treasures I might find in that old box of slides?

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