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Internet: We've Come a Long Way, Baby

Monday, October 18, 2010
I am on my computer every day and I check into Facebook and Ravelry daily too. I am proud of my internet skills and I am appreciative of my sharp braincells as a result of the HUGE learning curve I have embarked upon to get to where I am today. I am slightly annoyed at those who like to say that those who spend time on Facebook has "no life." I just write off comments like that as jealousy or lack of confidence to navigate their way. I have a life and that's what I write about.

In 1992 when I was taking the first baby steps in forming the Crochet Guild of America (CGOA), I was using an Apple computer merely like a keyboard. The internet was just starting to bubble and my dear friend and neighbor, Gerry, and I were both starting to learn. Since she and I were the only "contacts" we had, we decided that each time we would send an email, we would have to let the other person know. It wasn't like today when we just pop on the computer for a daily check. There wasn't enough activity then to do that. So, collectively, we decided that we should signal the other when an email was waiting by tying a red rag in a tree in the yard in plain sight from the recipient's house! Gerry and I have senses of humors and we're slightly crazy, but mostly we were just excited about email and proud to be using it. Our kids thought we were nuts and the neighbors had no clue what those flags meant, but it makes for great laughts yet today when our kids now in their late 20s and 30s like to go down memory lane.

We moved into the Court from FL in August 1985 and Gerry and I both had kids in the same 2nd grade classroom with Mrs Buob starting later that month. No one that I remember welcomed us to the Court and it was a long, cold winter. In the Spring, Gerry and I found ourselves in the same circle in Mrs. Buob's classroom for parents' visitation. We realized we were neighbors and spoke for the first time. I still harass her for not welcoming me to the neighborhood and at the very least, bringing me a basket of warm muffins!

A lot of water has passed under the bridge since then and Gerry and I have become dear friends. She is not a crocheter and I thnk I have made it clear here that crochet is my life. Gerry did do needlepoint at one point in her life and I taught her sister-in-law to crochet. Does that qualify for things in common?

Gerry leapt ahead with her computer skills and in the early days of the Chain Link newsletter, she was volunteering to do the layout for me. As membership grew, crocheters took over the newsletter job, but Gerry's contribution was a lifesaver for me! I leapt ahead of her on Facebook; and last I checked, she still didn't have her photo there. She's said numerous times she wants me to come over and help her learn to upload pictures!

We've been through a lot together: ups and downs, successes and disappointments, tears of joy and sadness, marriages, divorces, grandchildren and deaths. Gerry's passion is golf; my passion is crochet. They say a person is lucky to have 2 or 3 real friends in a lifetime. It is not often that one has a dear friend and one who lives close enough to be able to see their light in the window. No, we don't share a crochet connection, but our connection is strong nevertheless.

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