Social networking sites are growing in popularity every day; there are many to choose from among them; Myspace, Facebook and Friends Reunited to name but a few. When I think about Friends Reunited in particular, I often wonder about the kind of person that decides to join up, in particular what they are hoping to find. Could it be to track down their first love who they have never quite got over, or are they cautiously peeping around the door to see how the class bully has turned out? Or maybe something a little more sinister lies in their hearts. Was it love, revenge or plain curiosity that prompted them to sign up?
Whatever your reason for signing up, be aware that once done it may change your life forever. I guess the real question has to be; can our discoveries ever live up to our expectations? Will it encourage old grudges to resurface or old romances to rekindle? Can we ever revisit the past and emerge unscathed afterwards? I have cautiously dabbled with mixed results. I found it strangely unsettling to see how some seemed to have changed beyond recognition while others barely looked a day older than I last set eyes on them. It’s funny how old memories resurface, the times we bared our hearts and souls, revealed our most intimate thoughts and secrets. I wonder if they remember any of them now. Do they look back and smile or cringe in horror as I do?
I saw familiar faces smiling back at me now holding children of their own. Some had travelled the world only to return to their home town after discovering that the grass really wasn’t any greener on the other side. More heartbreakingly I heard of the death of two of the class bullies. All memories of their cruel treatment resurfaced but in the larger of scheme of things I saw just how unimportant it all was now. It allowed me to release them and their behaviour towards me, to forgive them and to wish them well.
Then we move into the next stage to meet up or not to meet up? This is a huge step to take; will you both live up to each other’s expectations? Will you pick up conversations as if no time had ever passed or will you wriggle uncomfortably in your seat, gulp down your drink and make your excuses and run? There is much to take into consideration before contemplating this step.
A few years ago I took this very step and I caught up with two of my very best old friends only to find that sadly we had nothing in common anymore; careworn bravely wearing the scars of love, births, death, tragedy, and divorce, forever changed but still yearning to take the chance to escape and revisit the past only to find that too much water had gone under that particular bridge to rekindle the friendship leaving us to drift apart once more.
It has been a bittersweet experience for me. My profile is still active and who knows, maybe one day another face from the past will pop by to reminisce of days gone by.
Image via Wikipedia
November 16th, 2009 at 1:04 pm
Don’t discount the people who just wanted to find new and wonderful friends who they may never had met because the miles were so very great!
I am thankful for Facebook and MySpace for that very thing!
November 16th, 2009 at 1:41 pm
Absolutely not Annie, I have also met some wonderful new friends online
The focus of this article is more aimed at catching up with people from the past.