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Eleven years ago, I started posting on a Weezer message board. It sounds trivial, but this space in the internet changed and affected so many parts of my life. I often forget about it, because friends are friends however you meet them.
Yesterday I woke up, hungover, and checked my new iphone to find out that one of my Weezer friends, who is also an ex, is engaged. This wasn’t surprising news, but it reminded me of that space and all the people it has brought into my life, people I still talk with on a fairly regular basis and people whose news I only hear through facebook.
Last night, again checking my phone in bed, news started appearing that another lady from the board, Esme, had died. I was (am) shocked, and there was little information at that point. I went to sleep wondering how it happened, to find out this morning that she was murdered. I never met Esme. There was a time where we chatted frequently, and I have postcards and other notes she sent me in the mail, but over the years she became part of the latter group of friends. Everyone I know who has met her speaks of how amazing she is, and my heart goes out to everyone who has lost a great person in their life. Reading her facebook wall is both heartbreaking and heartwarming, as it’s clear that she was a special soul that touched a lot of people in positive ways.
The internet spaces that are so often held at arm’s length, the ones that we think of giving up for more important things, are the same spaces where we celebrate engagements and babies and new jobs, the same spaces where we mourn tragic events. But instead of discussing the internet and what it all means, I’ll say what I’m learning: cherish your friends and loved ones. Be thankful for your relationships, and the ways they have shaped you.
