I have also made a new friend on Facebook; I joined a group called Plane Crash Survivors, and lo and behold, a woman who was a passenger on the same plane crash as I was in 1973 also joined the group. We avidly wrote for a few months, becoming good friends, and we met during my last trip east. I plan on being friends with her forever.
Another internet "meeting" -- in 1998, I believe, I received an email that was sent to me by mistake. It had arrival times and a request to be picked up at the airport from an international flight, so I replied to the sender that she had accidentally gotten a middle-aged mom in Littleton, Colorado and not the "Hector" she'd written to. I just didn't want her to be stranded at an airport with no Hector there to pick her up. Hector himself wrote back to thank me for helping them avoid an inconvenient mix-up, and we have been writing ever since. (I have permission to use his full name here) Hector McDonnell is an artist whose paintings, thankfully, I adore. Google him to see his work. He is kind and funny and, according to my daughter who actually stayed in his house in N. Ireland, has a great and wondrously infectious laugh. He and I have not yet met in person, but he, like my plane crash friend, will hopefully be in my life forever.
Then there's the story of my favorite teacher, Mr. S. He taught Spanish at Marblehead High School, and he was funny and fun and inspiring. I saw him once or twice in my very early 20s, when I came home from Spain and looked him up at MHS. I remember visiting his classroom once and speaking to his class in Spanish -- those kids were quite fluent, of course, because Mr. S was a great teacher. Then I lost him for more than 35 years, finally finding him through emails and internet searches, the year of my 40th class reunion. He is still a firecracker! We visited him on Cape Cod last summer, and he is coming to Colorado in a couple of weeks. Crazy, this life!
In my latest college life, around 2004, I met a fabulous woman. She was the second-oldest in our Women in Art class (ten years younger than me, the oldest!) and we became fast friends. J is so much fun, so enthusiastic about life! She has a husband who adores her and three amazing daughters! We used to talk about going to New York City to actually the Brooklyn Art Museum to see Judy Chicago's The Dinner Party. Once when we were discussing NY she mentioned a crazy button shop she wanted to take me to. We are both sewers and crafters. As she described the button shop, I remembered a painting Hector had done of that exact button shop that was reprinted in a calendar he'd sent me. I gave the print to J and she immediately framed it, loving the painting and the story of how Hector and I "met." Now J is very sick, fighting for her life, and selfishly, I miss her terribly. Her wonderful family has circled the wagons, so her legions of friends and fans wait to hear, once again through the miracle that is the internet, of how she is feeling and how they are coping. She is constantly in my thoughts.
Friends. My life is so enriched by them; I would be adrift without them. Old friends, new friends, internet friends and friends I haven't met yet -- you are all so very valuable to me! Thank you for being there, you are all so dear.
