Reconnecting on Facebook

You don't get to be 50 years old without meeting a few people along the way...and some of them you might even like to visit with again...if only you could reconnect with them.

So, a week or so ago I joined the Facebook crowd. It took a little (okay, a lot of) help from my son Derek, but "presto" and I'm there with the hip, cool crowd. - creating photo albums, instant messaging, wall-to-wall conversations, etc.

Well, the saying goes, if you only have a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. Two weeks ago, my only tool was a blog -- which allows me to unburden myself of these majestic thoughts -- but now I have a new tool. This one helps me reconnect with old high school and college buddies.

Once upon a time, I was young and playing tuba in the high school band. In fact, I played the tuba for six years...and for all six years the boy playing next to me was Anthony Perrella. This friendship was made even more interesting because when my dad was in high school, one of his best friends was Anthony's dad. In fact, they were boxers together on the Roundup team.

Anyway, I reconnected with Anthony through Facebook...and I got a call from him last night when I had come home early from work. Anthony is now in Billings and works for a company that is a contractor for the lignite-based power plants in North Dakota and the Tesoro refinery north of Mandan.

I also reconnected with my favorite roommate when I went to college in Missoula. His name is Tony Apa. Since getting his baccalaureate degree from the University of Montana in wildlife biology, he has earned his master's and doctorate degrees as well.

I never would have known this about Tony -- who now lives in Colorado -- if it hadn't been for Facebook.

So, new tool, new reacquaintenances. Remember the Oldsmobile commercial that said, "It's not just your father's car." Well, when it comes to Facebook, maybe the slogan should be, "It's not just for your kids anymore."

Or in the words of Seinfeld's Kramer, "I'm out there Jerry...and I'm loving it."