Thankful Thirty #12 (Technology)

What did we do without modern technology?   I have grown so much closer to my sisters and other members of my family since joining Facebook 4 years ago than I ever was before.  I wonder how we ever knew anything about each other's lives before?  The truth is, we didn't.  And so, while I know that as with anything, it's only good in moderation, I'm glad for the connections that technology brings me.

Hopping over to the Facebook tab at the top of my computer screen right now, I'm finding out  the following things:

*the 60th grandchild is on the way in my husband's family

* two of my sisters are motivating each other to exercise while on vacation together

*My parents are going on a mission trip to Texas after the holidays

*My nieces had the cutest Halloween costumes in their entire town for trick-or-treating

*My in-laws are living my dream traveling with their kids in Cambodia

All that without making any effort to search or call or ask around.  Have you had the same experience with modern technology?  How do you keep in touch with your family?

I'm grateful for the ability to keep in touch even from far away.

Saying Good-bye

Recently my boys' best friends moved with their family to North Carolina to be closer to their grandparents.  It was a sad day for us all.  Driving home from their house the night before his friends would leave, Beck and my husband had a tender conversation about how life changes from time to time.  It was one of those parenting moments when we wanted to wrap our arms around our little ones and protect them from all things sad that happen in the world.  

The truth is, it was sad for me to.  You see, I am supposed to be the one who moves away.  I do the leaving.  Working in the seasonal hospitality industry, it was my normal routine to move somewhere, make 2-3 close friends, and then wave good-bye as our contracts came to an end.  Some tears, some sincere attempts to keep in touch, and then we'd simply find ourselves on our merry way.  There are a few people I've kept in contact with over the years, but the reality of distance and time usually take their toll.  Thinking back on the fabulous people I've been blessed to know makes me smile and hold back tears simultaneously, but that's the life I have become accustomed to.

So when I tell you my boys' best friends moved away, I must also say that one of my good friends has moved away as well.  And it's a very new feeling to be the person left behind, to watch somebody else do the leaving.  Not because there aren't other people to hang around with, and not because I needed that relationship to validate me.  Rather, because the event represents everything changing in my life as settled down mother of four in suburban America.

Beck, Peyton, and I of course have other friends.  For me that is still the same as before-a small group of beautiful people who make me better just by knowing them.  Our old friends came into our lives when we joined an in-home Joy School, and now we've joined a new homeschool play group where we're getting to know a brand new group of people.  Our lives will go on, they will just never be quite the same.  

How have you helped your children deal with friends moving away?