Facebook, an online memorial: a place for grieving, sharing, healing

I never realized just how powerful facebook really is. While waiting at the carwash, killing time with a casual facebook check, my world changed.  My jaw dropped, tears rushed to my eyes and I was hit with the heavy news...

Today my post will be a bit different than normal.
It's time for me to get on my soap box and make sure you remember how precious life is...because all too frequently we forget.

This past Friday, my childhood friend, Indiana Graham, lost his five year fight with cancer.
He was not only my middle school sweetheart but the guy in high school that everyone loved.
He was the class clown, the baseball player, the friend of every person he met.

Even after being diagnosed with cancer sophomore year of high school, he kept a positive attitude and that big smile of his on his face. After graduation, while we all went our separate ways, he stayed at home to go to community college and receive his necessary treatments (always trying to persuade me that his dream college, OSU, was better than UT). But, despite his poor college allegiance and thanks to facebook, we were able to keep in touch and stay friends.

It was through facebook, that I stayed up to date on his life: his family, his treatments, his true love (his Mustang), his recent Make-A-Wish NYC trip and at 2 p.m., Friday the 30th, at Arbor Car Wash, the news of his passing.

Through facebook, I found out an hour after it happened.
An hour.
News that used to take a few days to circulate from family members to friends, now takes literally seconds. A gift and a curse for everyone involved.

All in all, I think the lightening-speed information sharing via social media is a good thing to have. I'm appreciative of the quick news, allowing me to quickly move my schedule around to attend his funeral service back in Dallas. I'm also appreciative of the memorial power of facebook. I think it serves as a powerful, online place for friends to grieve, share photos and memories, and ultimately start the slow healing process. As trivial as it sounds, embrace facebook and the ability it has to keep those you care about connected with each other.

I write this not to be morbid, depressing or dramatic, but to remind you to tell your friends you love them. I don't think it gets said enough. Life is short: conquer your goals, embrace your hobbies, but most importantly enjoy the journey.

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"When I get where I'm going, there'll be only happy tears, I will shed the struggles that I've carried all these years, yeah when I get where I'm going, don't cry for me down here"

RIP Indy