a family reunion

I have a feeling that if you're even reading this blog, you're probably not too anti-social networking. You know...blogs, Facebook, Twitter...it seems like you either think it's the devil, or you think it's the best thing ever. Obviously I'm in the best-thing-ever camp. But just in case you need some convincing, I would like to present you with this heartwarming story.See those pretty girls?? That's me and my cousin Rachael. Yesterday.

And maybe that doesn't seem strange to you. Maybe you see your cousins all the time. Maybe you grew up together and you talk on the phone and you share holidays with crazy relatives.

Or maybe you're a little more like me. Maybe your parents decided before you were born to move to the opposite side of the country from where they were born and raised (Texas). So you grew up never really knowing your extended family. We always got to see our grandparents, but I'll be honest-- we've just never had the opportunity to get to know our cousins. And it's sad, because I have lots of them, and they all seem like they would be fun people to know! And we saw them more when we were really young, because we'd spend all summer in Texas. But by the time we kids were in middle and high school, those month-long trips turned into week-long trips, and all of our cousins were also traveling, so we pretty much never saw them.

Rachael is six years or so younger than me, so when we were younger, she was much more my sister's friend than mine. You know...there's a big difference between a 10 year old and a 16 year old. But as you get older, the differences shrink. But we wouldn't have had the chance to know that, because save for a few hours at my wedding 3.5 years ago, I haven't seen Rachael since...the late '90s??

Enter the world of social networking.

Rachael and I got reconnected. We're facebook friends. We read each others blogs. And I realized pretty early on that I bet we are people who could be real-life friends, too. We have a lot in common! Who knew?!

So when Rach emailed me last week to let me know she'd be in Atlanta over the weekend, I could WAIT to go hang out with her. Because we're family! And now we can be friends, too. Real life friends!

So yesterday Matt and I joined Rach for a day of dining and shopping and dining and shopping (apparently those passions are genetic). Conveniently, we share a love for Dave Ramsey and also a taste for the finer home furnishings in life...so we were able to drool over a lot of stuff we couldn't afford, but at least our misery had company.

The whole day was wonderful. It made me so happy to sort of take back my own family destiny. Just because I didn't grow up being close to my extended family doesn't mean I can't start now, right? I'm a big girl now. I'm in charge of my own life and who is in it, and I don't think it's too late to start getting to know my cousins. Especially with the aid of social networking...I mean, there wasn't even a moment of awkwardness, cause we already "knew" each other!

So anyway. There's my dissertation. I had a wonderful day with my cousin (and my very tolerant husband, who LOVED being dragged to every furniture store in Atlanta) and hope that this is only the beginning. And just in case there are any other of my long-lost cousins reading this...drop me a line! I bet we could be BFF too!