A few weeks ago I had an epiphany.  I thought about someone that I think about regularly, but with a different direction.  And I was able to do something about it… because of social networking. Curious yet?

When I was growing up, my family hosted a series of exchange students. We had a couple of them from Manta, Ecuador, then one from Popayan, Columbia.  We also had one from Strasburg, France.  We visited the families whose kids we hosted in both Ecuador and Columbia.  Our families became friends.  In fact, the brother of our first exchange student lived with us for a year while we hosted out third student.  And the first two that we hosted were actually best friends.

So, after having them live in our home for a year, and visiting South America a few times, we had a great relationship.  The other wrinkle was that as an only child, these were the closest thing to siblings that I had.  Don’t be sad for me…  I had a wonderful childhood.  But, as a kid in 2nd through 5th grade, they made a tremendous impact on my life.  Fernanda, Gina, Mercedes and Patricio (Fernanda’s brother) were a big part of my childhood. Honesty flash… the French student we hosted always seemed to be a visitor to the family and never a part…

So, I devoted about 15 minutes to seeing if I could find any of them.  In fifteen minutes, I had the email address of Gina. I found her nephew in Ecuador, and he sent me her email address.  How cool is that… I haven’t had contact information for any of them in decades… We’ve moved, they’ve moved.  And now I have reconnected with part of my life that I never thought I would be able to reconnect with.

There is still a long way to go, but this is a good start.  The nephew that I exchanged messages with happens to be best friends with Patricio’s son.  And of course that means I should be able to find Fernanda and Patricio… he is helping get them in touch with me.  (**Update – I have now been in touch with both Frergy and Patricio**)

When I was a kid, in order to call to Ecuador, we had to make prior arrangements.  And then the conversation would be limited to just a few minutes.  Letters were iffy…  And now, I was able to find a lost friend, and communicate IN JUST MINUTES.

I have actually connested with scores of friends from around the country through FaceBook and Classmates.  From Michigan to Virginia to Minnesota and then even here in Georgia, utilizing social networks, I have been able to connect to long lost friends and family.  Sure, business is nice… but what about all of those friends that you have shared your life with?  I have learned that they are A LOT more important. Yes, I tell all of my friends what I do… they know.  In some cases I have gotten calls from friends of friends to help them here in Atlanta.