IRC goodbyes

It's always sad when we lose one of our friends, especially when they pass away unexpectedly. And it nearly always brings to mind our own frailties, pointing out that life is too short. But life has changed in the past 100 years, the past 20 years, or even the past 10. We are not only connected by the towns we live in, the places we go, our families, we are also connected in a virtual world as well. And while information is shared in a nanosecond, how many of us really know where to go to get information if or when something happens? Most of the time, we rely on instant messages or email to pass the word along. Right?

But how many of us have friends or family members who know us well enough to make sure the information gets out to all the right places?? Do you have an on-line life that your close ones don't know about? My apologies to my daughter in advance for using her as an example. I'm sure the last thing on anyone's mind is updating her on-line friends if something happened. But would that be her wish? Would she want certain people who are a part of her life that we don't know about to know? How would we get that message out? Or am I just being silly about on-line ""friends"" who are just someone to talk to when you have the time and they're not really friends in the true sense of the word. Am I the only one who considers on-line chatters "friends"?

If something happened to any of my online friends, would I find out? or would I be left to think they disappeared into cyberspace on me, never to be heard from again? I've had this conversation with several good friends, and I'm amazed that there isn't some way to take care of that. Let's face it and be honest, many of us have passwords on our computers, and it's not something we share with people. So many of our personal transactions take place online ... this is just one more thing to think about.

The other thing someone's passing brings to mind is this:
have you told the people in your life
--that you care about them?
--Do they know how you feel?
--that they're an important part of your life?
--that you'd miss them if they were gone?
Tell someone today. In fact, tell them every day.
We never grow tired of hearing it :)

I love you HUGS to everyone!

PS: maggiemay, you will be missed. Godspeed, RIP

I... love a parade!

When I was growing up, I didn't go see too many parades. And I keep wondering why. When I was married, in another lifetime, I traveled to Gunnison Colorado and saw the Fourth of July parade there, three different years. And I fell in love with small town USA. With a population around 5500.... well, you get the picture! Everyone knows everyone. And if you're new in town, everyone talks to you :) That was also the place where I went to my first Walmart. but I digress.

When I moved to Hamilton, Ohio, I saw plenty of parades. Another small town and the county seat, so there were plenty of reasons to have a parade. Or plenty of parades to have because people get bored? lol However, one of the neatest things there was being IN the parades! Girl Scouts and Cub Scouts troops were in most of the parades. I never dreamed I would be in a parade, but I was. Depending on the reason for the parade, we'd march from the Jr High to downtown. Or, from downtown to the cemetery. (After my first parade, I had the "princess wave" down pat! lol) Then there was the homecoming parades when my kids were in high school. Watching my boys carry color guard with NJROTC can make a mom get teary-eyed!

Today, I saw my first parade in Arizona: Chandler's 22nd annual Ostrich Festival Parade. (the link to my parade pix is here). After the color guard passed, there was the usual parade of mayor and politicos, and all the local queens (Miss Gilbert, Miss East Valley... you get the idea). So many townspeople lined up along Arizona Avenue, one of the major thoroughfares in Chandler! I ended up forgetting to toss extra batteries in my pocket for the camera (wouldn't you know it, I was 3/4 of the way through the parade when I realized my batteries were running low!) but I managed to eke out enough to get pictures of the fav entries.

Is there a point to this blog? Nope, not this time.
Other than watching a parade can be a fun thing
on a gorgeous Saturday morning.
And watching the people is not a bad thing either :)

Parade-watching HUGS to everyone!