Say what you want about Facebook, it's kept me in touch with a lot of terrific people. As an at-home mom, that touch of the outside world in the background of my day is really beneficial some days. You get a little stir-crazy with only the company of a 5- and 6-year-old, trust me.
TMI alert--those with weak stomachs, skip ahead a paragraph. The other night I was horribly sick. Happily the kids slept through it, but let's just say I had some wonderfully natural, organic, over-priced Pret-a-Manger lemonade that sent me sprinting for the bathroom every 15 minutes for three hours. Helena and I are sharing a queen-sized hotel bed. Miraculously, neither she nor Olivia woke up during the evening. But, I have to say, after the fourth trip to the loo, I felt overwhelmingly alone.
Even though there's nothing he could've done about it, I would have given anything to have Bryan here to just commiserate. So often, when I'm sick, the relief of having him take over with the kids makes me feel physically better. I can relax, knowing they're safe, and focus my energy on healing. The scariest situation for me is feeling compromised in some way when I'm with the kids. I'm such a safety nerd that I wear a Velcro pocket on my shoe. It's meant as a runner's key holder, but I write "Emergency information" on it and keep a paper with the name, age, phone number and allergies of the whole family inside. I need something to speak for me if I'm out with the kids and somehow incapacitated--worst case scenario.
Back to Facebook. Recently, I've had several friends with health problems: two cancer-related surgeries, one hospitalization, two babies born, one home accident requiring significant stitches, recovering cancer transplant issues, and more. Being able to read about people's struggles and offer the occasional comment has really helped me feel in touch and still able to support my loved ones, friends and even acquaintances from so far away. You could say it's superficial, but I know when I need a boost, a simple typed missive on Facebook can really help. So I'm pretty unapologetic about being a rabid, prolific Facebooker.
Yes, it has downsides. I recently blocked a longtime friend after some unpleasant exchanges brought to a boil months, years even, of uncomfortable communication. Facebook, it seems, provided the perfect forum to bring things to a head. But in truth, I feel better about that decision than I thought I would, so perhaps it's best.
As our trip winds down, I realize that, even once I'm back home, I'll still be far apart from everyone. We're moving to Dallas--where we know no one. Bryan's already there. He's looking for homes, buying me a car and getting settled into our new life. We think we know what neighborhood we'll live in and I've started looking into gyms for my next Zumba teaching gig. So life will re-start for us soon enough. But I'm grateful that through all of this--the layoff, the unemployment, the selling/purging, the month in Paris, the month in England and into the future--my friends and family with be with me, electronically.
Thanks for reading and thanks for caring! It means a lot to my whole family.
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