On Christmas day a UK woman, Simone Back, announced her suicide plan on Facebook and no one stepped in to help. “Took all my pills, bye bye”, that was a message 1048 friends saw; a handful made comments, called her a liar and pretty much called her bluff. Only this time it wasn’t a bluff. Simone was found dead later that day. Her mother asked Simone’s Facebook friends to now leave her alone.
With the technology we have today you would think that a cry for help wouldn’t go unanswered. Facebook status updates go unread all the time but this one was read and ridiculed and chastised. Our social reach goes far beyond our physical abilities. I have friends in Hawaii that I’ve never met and family in Georgia that I haven’t seen in many years. But I was able to share holiday memories, birthday wishes and pictures of the kids with them both. Having this vast network of “friends” all over doesn’t really mean you have friends though. A lot of these friends are just numbers for your games, blogs, fanbase or cause. I’m guilty of this since I ask for a Facebook like or Twitter follow as giveaway entries. Does this mean all of those people are my friends; no. But I can say that I appreciate the effort to help build LookWhatMomFound…and Dad too! and love reading comments and updates and messages from everyone I’ve friended and liked or followed. I would hope that if I was down, depressed, excited, sad, happy or bored my online friends as well as my real life would be there to support or cheer me on.
Are We Really Friends
There’s a New Breed of Nerd
We always talk about Sabreena being a nerd. We call her nerd or geek in a joking conversation and often include her friends in the mix. This weekend as I was corralling her and her friends out of the bounce house to make way for another group I referred to them as the geek squad.
You see Sabreena is a straight A student, member of National Junior Honor Society, completed her mandatory 75 hours of community service to graduate 8th grade in the 6th grade, is in 3 Advanced Placement classes and hangs with other kids who have very similar resume.
The difference between Sabreena and the nerds that are depicted on tv and movies is that Sabreena is also a pretty cool kid. She’s got the book smarts but she’s also a pretty creative kid whose into music, painting, drawing and crafts. Her friends are funny and into music too. One thing I noticed is that they are all pretty fashionable too; no pocket protectors here. So while we may call her nerd she really takes it as a complement; even though she took the joke a little too far for her 8th grade pictures.
What does Friendship mean to you!
For the last 24 years there has been one constant in my life, my best friend Stacy. We met the summer before 6th grade and have been there for each other since. We’ve been through it all together; heartbreak, kids, marriage, loss, adoption, death, relocation. Stacy is the 1st person I called when the kids were born, she’s the one I called when my grandmother passed, she’s the one I call when I’m having a bad day but she’s also the 1st person I call almost every morning. Our relationship isn’t situation specific, we talk to catch up, see what the other is doing for the weekend and when there is big news to share, we are 100% involved in each other’s lives.
My life is dotted with other friendships, all cherished and special but my relationship with Stacy is extraordinary. She’ll be my “sister” forever, no matter the distance between us, no matter the stress life brings, no matter the struggles we encounter over time.
