Shared Moments

"This needs to be shared," said my friend Marty in the midst of a Facebook email conversation.

For those of you who feel that blogs should not include personal anecdotes or discuss mundane issues, this is your head's up to click to another page. I'm going to share a completely silly, irreverant moment with a good friend - it has a purpose, and I'll talk about that too, but just saying...this is a window into a very silly conversation.

It all started with some random email one of us sent, regarding building up of readership/followers of blogs, as well as building up networks of friends in Facebook. I commented on the fact that I don't like the tendency a lot of bloggers have of suggesting, "If you follow me, I'll follow you (on respective blogs)." I find this to be an exercise in emptiness. My goal is definitely to grow my readership, but not to do it in a blind, sweeping manner by following countless blogs that I'm not interested in reading. I want the same to happen with fellow bloggers who choose to follow my own blog - I want people to actually read what I write, you know? So, my comment back to Marty apparently hit him in a similar manner, to the point that he wrote back and put my comment in quotes. The next is a series of replies in our email thread:

Marty: "OK. I like your view of things... I think that 'Gratuitous attention is completely empty and unnecessary.'"

Dawn: "Had to laugh at seeing my own comment on gratuitous attention in quotes. Do you think I'll become a famous author one day that people will quote on the next social media version of Facebook?"

Marty: "And yes, Dawn, you will be the bomb... I will be 85 years old, trying to adapt to the new "Facebook of 2050" and I will be writing on my status.. 'I knew Dawn' and I will automatically get 400 friend requests. :) My blog by then will get close to 20000 views a day, because, 'I knew Dawn.'"

Dawn: "I will, in turn, be up in Heaven on my cloud, the one that's a bit messy, with stray feathers, some interesting scrolls from the library stacked on a poofy section, Dove wrappers tucked discretely beneath my robe for future contemplation and, of course, some nifty device that allows me to access said future computer waves so I can watch over your progress. The other angels will stop by to see 'what that intelligent, funny, witty Marty is doing these days. He's so accomplished, but more importantly, he loves with his whole heart. Smart move on your end, while on Earth, that you became friends.' I will nod, smile and send you love & support from my messy, but comfy and lived in cloud."

Marty: "OMG. I totally can't quit laughing... This needs to be shared... If only I could add Brenda onto this chain... :)"

Dawn: "How do you feel about me using this as the focus of a blog?"

Marty: "I absolutely DO NOT CARE if you use any of this stuff. :) I'm just trying to imagine myself when I'm 85 using the new Facebook. I'll be like coding and manipulating the site in everyway possible, installing widgets, and little virtual Dove chocolates that will plop onto your screen in all their Dark Chocolate goodness and the wrapper will say, 'Sent with Love from Heaven Above by Dawn.'"

I went on to add a whole slew of possibilities for Marty's future, which is too long and involved to add here. I know in my heart that his future is blindingly bright, so my description of possible scenarios went on with quite a bit of detail! This was the last comment Marty emailed and the one that struck me the most and made me smile the most:

Marty: "You could just throw this conversation into a blog. I've never laughed harder. This has been one of my favorite days so far in our friendship, Dawn ."

If you've read this far in this blog, I hope you've laughed at the absurd humor Marty and I were tossing back and forth. Why have I chosen to make this a blog post? Because I think that moments of shared, absurd humor are the stuff of Golden Memories. I will remember that conversation with Marty for the rest of my life. It was silly, yes, but it also was full of an incredible amount of support, encouragement and belief in each other as friends. That was what touched me the most.

Beyond that, I have to give a nod to the Internet and to Facebook for the ability to foster some of the most unlikely friendships. Marty lives in the mid-west. I live in the south. There's an age gap between us, with me being older, that normally would be too large an obstacle for a friendship to be born. Against all odds, though, Marty stumbled across my blog several weeks ago and was the first person to post an encouraging comment, and also one of the first people to follow my blog. I pulled up his blog, liked what I read and began to follow him in return. From there, we've been building a solid friendship that spans a wide range of topics, emotions, learning experiences and, best of all, sheer, lighthearted fun as depicted above. I think that many times, we cheat ourselves out of a wonderful experience by not pursuing those unlikely friendships. This is one time that I embraced the opportunity and my life has been made richer as a result.

Take time to embrace that inner child, my friends. Also, take a chance on an unlikely friendship in the future. Think outside the box with this one! You're presented with those opportunities fairly often, if you just take time to pay attention. If you already have a Marty in your life, be thankful and appreciative!!! The Marty in my life gives me lots of little moments of laughter, as well as all the other important aspects of friendship. The email conversation above reminded me to keep believing in myself, my writing, my dreams, all in the context of absurd humor. Here is to the Marty's in the world - may you all have one of your own!