Social media in general and Facebook in particular have their benefits and drawbacks There is no doubt that it is way easier to reconnect with long lost friends than it used to be.
Recently my husband got tagged in a 6th grade class photo from his good old PS 32 in New York City. This started a flurry of conversation between people who hadn’t been in touch for many many (many) years. There is really nothing quite like an old friend who knew you when. I believe he may actually stay reconnected with some of these folks.
With all the catching up that was going on, there was a comment from a girl in his class that caught my attention. She wanted to let Sandy know that after all this time, she still thought about his mother.
It turns out that way back when, after a school performance, my mother-in-law had made a bee-line straight over to this girl just to tell her what a wonderful job she had done. It wasn’t the simple “good for you”; mom had told her how moved she had been and that this young lady should be very proud of the performance. Fortyeight years later, this woman says that she still remembers how impacted she was by the interaction. Wow!
There are more people out there than we can count for whom a crumb of positive feedback is rare and important. Words, either kind ones or mean ones, are often put out there without much thought and the speaker moves on. This story illustrates how much a message can sometimes stick and make a profound impact.
Go out there on this Thanksgiving weekend and make a lasting positive impact with your conversations!
