Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Virtual friends, real and imagined.

When I was in first grade, I met Zandy. She lived two streets away from me and we were best friends. We had sleepovers, rode our bikes together, and went to the corner store together for penny candy. Yep, I’m telling my age here.

Zandy and I swore we’d be friends forever, but then my mom moved the family from the suburban neighborhood I loved to a farm on forty acres. No kids my age lived within a full square mile, even if my mom would have allowed me to ride my bike that far.

Today, my friendships are cemented virtually.  I get to meet people on line and have them turn into my besties. Laura Bradford is one of those people I met on line. She was part of The Good Girls Kill for Money blog and I won a book Laura had as a giveaway. Instead of her mailing the book, we agreed to meet for lunch. And our friendship was born.


Now that she lives four or five states over, we’ve kept in touch through email, Facebook, the occasional phone call and annual face to face meet ups. And when we do get together, it’s like no time has passed.

I’ve lost track of Zandy, but just last year, a friend from high school found me on Facebook. Brad was the goofy kid who loved life and loved to laugh. We were band kids. We were all Tolkien geeks, believing that the world followed the same rules for good and evil. It was great catching up with him but seeing him as an adult? It’s kind of crazy.


I’ve met many people (virtually) in the last few years that when we finally meet in person, it’s like we’ve been friends forever. For me, I’m loving the social part of the social media part of being a writer. Maybe that’s why I’m so comfortable writing about my imaginary friends who live in South Cove. I’m used to not meeting real people except on my computer. Who’s to say my made up worlds aren’t as real as the internet one I visit daily?



Have you developed friendships on the internet? 

5 comments:

Marilyn Meredith a.k.a. F. M. Meredith said...

One of the reasons I love Facebook is being in contact with old friends and making so many new friends. Great post!

Lynn Cahoon said...

Thanks Marilyn. I enjoy Facebook for the same reason.

Chèli said...

I have made friends on the Internet, mainly at a book site - LIBRARYTHING.
I actually met two of my LT friends in person, and several I even talk to on the phone now. But books are what drew us together and we are always sharing new finds with each other.

Morgan Mandel said...

I love having virtual friends. Funny thing is, I share things with them I don't often share with people I see in person.

Lynn Cahoon said...

Cheli - book friends are the best!I've had a friend call me just to tell me I NEEDED to read a book. And yes, she was right.

Morgan - You do become quite close to people you've never met.