photo: ncbeaches.com

I’m getting pretty excited about the prospect of seeing my sister and her husband again soon. It’s been far too long since we’ve seen each other (they live in Orlando), and we’re brewing up a reunion of sorts in the next few months in the Carolinas. We figure that’s a good halfway mark between the two of us. I gotta feeling we’re going to find a way to make this work.

I’m in love with Facebook and all other types of social media for the obvious reasons. They provide us all a great chance to reunite and stay in touch with the people who have been most important to us in our lives. But the danger lies in the false feelings of comfort that online networking can somehow replace the face-to-face meetings with the ones we love.

I remember when I first joined Facebook and tried to get other family members to join. I thought it was great that, finally, we would be able to stay in touch, keep a pulse on each other, and offer our support in “liking” posts and sharing emoticons that we thought accurately captured how we were feeling at the time.

Who were we to ever believe that such things could ever replace the ever-important, in-person hugs, the all-night conversations, and the spontaneous walks on the beach where we can talk about the things that the crashing waves then carry away from us, forever.

It has been too long. I hope we are able to find a place that is both affordable and suitable for our needs. It seems like we’re all getting older too quickly these days, and I suddenly don’t want the moments between our visits to be so many.