Linked In, A Global Warming

A string of people from my past have found me in the last few months---or I've found them.

Not that any of us were lost.

Our paths crossed over the years through childhood, college, weddings, and work. Today some of our paths cross online over Linked In.

Linked In gives new meaning to "global warming"---we're reaching out to those who loved us, liked us, laughed with us, encouraged us, appreciated us, collaborated with us, and simply touched us in some small or large way.

We're seeking comfort, familiarity, and one another.

On a recent trip to see dear friends in Florida, sort of a "ROOTS" tour back to my home state, I had a chance to visit my paternal Grandparents home located at 40 Derby Street in Cocoa, Florida. My Father sold the home back about 1987, some years after Grandma died. A lovely woman named Gun owns the home today. Now a widow, she and her husband bought it around 2000. She graciously gave my friend Mary and I a tour.

Another day, we took an excursion to see what was formerly the old Florida Hotel and then Howey Academy in Howey-in-the-Hills. My friends Gary and Mary kept telling me that some state funded program had taken over the property as I described what I remembered 50 years ago when attending boarding school there. To my utter dismay, the old main building had been blown up during filming of The Incredible Hulk and no one would believe that the equestrian stables and riding rink ever existed. Thankfully, the lakefront setting remains.

On my last day full day in Florida, Mary and I rediscovered another dear friend from college, Janie. We hadn't seen or spoken with one another for at least 35 years. We all talked and laughed 'til we cried. I could not remember many of our adventures from a 1970 tour of Europe. Amazingly, Janie's precious 94 year-old mother still thrives.

Everything has changed . . . personal histories recorded.

Linking In, a clear signal to come together.

40 Derby Street