Just now on Facebook, I was looking through my feed.

If you are on Facebook, then you know that your feed includes the friends, family, and pages that you follow.

There was a picture my friend, Page, had posted. When I saw her name, it brought me back about 12 years. I met that friend when I was a single mom, working as a JoAnn Fabrics store manager. Thinking about that time in my life immediately made me think about how old my kids were then…

Back then, I was completely overwhelmed, at times, by autism and single parenting. Page got to know me in a very chaotic time of my life. And yet, in spite of everything that was challenging me and making me less than sane, she was my friend. And here we are, over a decade later, she is still in my life.

That little trip down memory lane had me thinking about how many different friends I have. I have, as of this very moment, 1,073 friends on Facebook. That seems ludicrous. And yet, it really doesn’t. I am closer to 50 than 40, and have met so many, many people. So the thought of having all those friends is not that surprising.

And every friend has a different frame of reference. They each met me at a different time and knew me when I was dealing with some different aspect of life.

There are the friends I have had since I was little: Amy and Kim. They know a version of me that has long since gone away. The version where everyone called me Kathy and I was the youngest of 8 kids with all sorts of pets and chaos and business.

There are the friends from elementary school: Kris and Clare. They know me as yet a different person. By then, we had moved to Oakmont. They know me as Dottie’s little sister and an aunt of many. They know me as a quiet nerdy academic who wanted to be a teacher and work with little kids.

There are friends from high school and college, my sorority — Kappa Delta,  and all the different jobs over the years… sorry, guys, that’s way too many of you to mention! They know me as Kathleen or Katho. They know the evolving me who eventually discovered the opposite sex and the possibility of life beyond the walls of Oakmont. They know me as an emerging adult who began to see myself as someone beyond what others had said I should be.

Then there are more recent friends… the people like Page who have known me as a mom. The ones who helped me move out when my marriage became unbearable. The friends who watched my kids or lent me money or simply cheered me along some of the most difficult moments of my life. The friends I met online who may or may not have ever met me in person and yet I truly consider to be a part of my life.

Through it all, I am just amazed. So many of you have stuck with me.

Thanks for that.

Today, I just want you to know, that when I see you on my Facebook news feed, I reminisce. Thanks for that lovely trip down memory lane. I hope you are well and I appreciate you.

Love,

Kathy/Katho/Kathleen/Kat