Old Friends

Never underestimate the power of LinkedIn or the picking up of a phone. For some reason the past few weeks have been an unpresedented time for me to get back in touch with old friends. A few of the times this has been initiated by me, but mostly it seems random in nature. Now if I truly believed in things like fate, I might try and read into all this some deeper meaning. Truth is, I don't why it is, just that it is. It's not a bad thing so, why worry or try and figure it out. Now of these old friends I haven't spoken to in years 2, 4, even 7 years in a few cases. These were people whom I had lost touch with 4 or 5 jobs and three states ago. Through all this, technology seems to have made that chasm of time and distance fade. I can use GoogleTalk and be chatting (or talking) with Christian back in Indy just as easily as Aaron in Seattle or Ryan right here in Michigan (next door). Doesn't matter. The net does a good job of erasing these physical distances in some ways.
Someone asked me if I had heard from Aarron recently or since he left Michigan. I thought and realized how funny my answer might sound. "Yes", I replied. "Spoke with him last night and just got done chatting with him. In fact, I talk or chat with him about every other day." Now, it's a lot less than the daily regiment we were in when he sat next to me in the office, but, hey... moving across the country has that effect on people. No, as I approach this wonderful and truly American holiday of Thanksgiving, I really do have a lot to be thankful for. In addition to all these wonderful people who I've been so fortunate to have woven my way, if ever so lightly or briefly, into their lives, it is this incredible set of tools and technology that makes it so easy to keep in touch. I mean, how hard is it to monitor my RSS feed(s) and post a note. Wow.
So to all of you reading (and chatting), thank you. Please, do keep in touch, and be thankful, because it's a whole lot easier than it used to be.