Let’s talk about the internet, old friends and coincidences…

Patty is on the left and I am next to her...caught making bunny ears!

Is there such a thing as a coincidence? Does everything happen for a reason? I believe in the latter, but occasionally wonder…

With this whole world of technology that is always growing and changing around us, I must admit that I am a bit slow on the draw; but I’m hanging in there and doing my best to keep up with the times. About a year-and-a-half ago I reluctantly jumped onto the Facebook bandwagon. It took me a long time to join because I thought it was a thing for high school kids. Then one night I had dinner with a few women from my childhood and they were telling me how fun it is to reconnect with people who have faded from our memories, how entertaining it can be, and what a great networking tool it is. So finally I joined. It took me quite a while to get comfortable with this because there really is no handbook; you just kind of go online and figure it out for yourself. People from my past would pop up and want to “friend” me, and as time passed and I started to feel more comfortable with Facebook, I would “accept” their invitations. Friends from college, from my time spent in Florida, relatives, and people from my childhood were flooding into my life. It was quite a surreal experience because with all of these people coming back into my life, all of these memories came flooding back into my mind. For those of you who know me, that is a lot for me to handle because I remember everything!

Anyway, it was exciting to reconnect with people from my past and see what they are up to. Then a friend from elementary school “friended” me, her name is Patty. Wow, there is a blast from the past. She was always a sweet girl, and I remember going to a couple of her parties as a child and playing with her on our school field trips to Diamond Hill. So I accepted her invitation and once again, we were friends.

One day as I was browsing my Facebook page, I noticed Patty had a blog…how cool is that?! I had wanted to write a food blog for a couple of years, but I had no idea how to even start one never mind how to write one. I sent Patty a message on Facebook asking her how she got started and to see if she could offer any advice. Within a few days I received a message back loaded with all kinds of information. Yes! Thank you, thank you, thank you Patty!! With the information given, I was on my way to Bloggerville, USA. One day, after Patty had read an entry from my blog, she suggested I read the book “My Life in France” by Julia Child. “Hmm, Julia Child,” I thought; I admire Julia Child as a chef, but I don’t know too much about her or how she got started. Since I had just finished reading one book and was looking for another, I went out and got “My Life in France.” I wondered what the book was going to be about and if I was going to be able to relate to Julia; after all, if she were alive today, she’d be 58 years older than me! Well, within the first 7 pages I was ready for a trip to Paris. What a neat woman!! She had determination like no other and quite an engaging personality. She had a strong curiosity for life and for the people who surrounded her. And as it turns out, we do have quite a few things in common. We both met our husbands when we were 32 years old. Our husbands are 10 years older than us. We must to create a dish over and over again until we get it just right!! We realized our intense passion for food, especially cooking, later in life. And now, we both love to write about food and share our knowledge with whoever will listen!! Who knew?!

Life is an interesting experience filled with strange happenings, and I love to encounter, absorb and realize them. Everything happens because it is supposed to, the good, the bad, the ugly, and the pretty. I’m not saying in any way that I’ll be the next Julia Child, no way, one could only dream of that! I am saying that if it weren’t for my childhood gal pals leading me to Facebook, then I wouldn’t have reunited with Patty, I wouldn’t have taken the leap to write a blog, and I wouldn’t have discovered the person who is Julia Child, and I wouldn’t have rediscovered the person who I am today….do you see where I’m going with this?

Enjoy the day and remember…it’s OK to play with your food. Julia Child did!!