A couple of weeks ago I received a graduation invitation through Facebook. When I went to RSVP, Facebook offered the option of just replying OR signing up to have a Facebook page. I had heard so much about Facebook and its ability to connect people ("being friended") through its ever-expanding network of millions, I thought, what the heck...
And now, 15 days later, I have THIRTY friends. Well, 30 people have "friended" me since signing up. I am not exactly sure how people "find" each other, but I'm definitely convinced of our world's ever-decreasing size. Not surprisingly, the majority of these friends are Saddleback folks (including long lost friends Justin Adams and Jim Dobbs.) But some of these other "friending" requests have come from way out of the blue and even seem kinda bizarre. Among these "friends" is a guy I worked with at Montage who moved to Hong Kong last year. Another is from one of the women who was part of the three-week Europe trip I went on in 2006. Then there is a lady who claims to be the 'second wife of a man who is friends with one of my dad's Canadian cousins.' (Oh, I'm not making this up.)
But today's friending inquire was the best.
I had an email in my Yahoo account from Julie Hibbard. Upon further inspection, I realized it was a request from another person named Julie Hibbard who would like to "friend" me on Facebook. Julie is a student at Texas State University and thinks it's "cool" that we have the same name. She also wondered if, perhaps, we could be related.
Hmmm...what do you think...should I begin by explaining to Julie that Hibbard is actually my former husband's last name, and then maybe go on to tell her that it was not really his last name anyway because he had been adopted by his mother's second husband when he was six years old...but that even then, the step dad had been adopted by an older relative when his mother died in childbirth?
Yeah...how good of a friend do you want to be Julie Hibbard?
I will write Julie back, of course, and become her Facebook friend...probably better if I just avoid the whole long-lost relative explanation though.
But I think I'll ask her if she wants to split the cost of some really nice engraved stationery.