Meeting My Cyber Friend in Person

About two months ago, one of my friends from Twitter and Facebook contacted me about suggesting some sights and sounds to enjoy in my local area.  It seems that she was planning a trip from Norway that included a bit of the Los Angeles, CA area and she wanted to know what she most needed to see on this, her first foray into southern California.  I provided her with a list of highlights but the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to have the opportunity to meet a friend that I had met in cyberspace.  After all, I know what I thought I knew about this person.

Was she, in reality, anything like I thought she would be?  Could I trust my instincts to meet someone who, in reality, I knew nothing about?  And most importantly, could I make our time together something special – something that she would want to remember?  I wasn’t so sure.

I finally got up the nerve to suggest that we meet face to face and once she seemed amenable to the idea, I was ecstatic.  After all, she was coming here to get together with some of her other friends and was willing for us to spend a day of that precious time together.  I thought of a whole lot of places to go and things to see and stuff to do but then I realized that if the focus was on all of that, I would never have the chance to really get to know her and that was the most important thing.

On the appointed day, Kirk and I headed off to the hotel where she was staying and then off to the beach where it was quite cold and windy.  We had lunch there and walked around on the pier for a bit and then headed off to Melrose Avenue in Hollywood to explore some shops before heading back to her hotel for a bit of dinner before saying our goodbyes.  Where we went and what we did soon paled in comparison to the conversation that we had and the opportunity that we had to get to know each other.  It was a super experience that I know will not be soon forgotten.

It seems that my friend, Moki, is exactly the person that I thought she would be.  She was so kind and loving and warm and Kirk and I, as well as Moki, felt like we had known each other for many years.  We talked about ourselves, our families, how we met and what we are looking forward to doing in the future.  We laughed and chatted about the silly goings-on around us as the time flew by so fast that I couldn’t believe it.  We talked about getting together again and including the rest of her family when we do so.  And we do plan to Skype each other on Christmas Day in order to share our holiday greetings across the miles.

I don’t know about anyone else but I have never felt more grateful for social media and how it brings people together from around the world.  If it were not for our chatting online, Moki and Kirk and I would never have met one another and that would have been a very sad thing.  This opportunity has given me an extra special holiday gift, a friendship that will now last a lifetime.  There is no Christmas list that could ever have produced a gift like that.

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