Reflections

This morning I went to the funeral of my lovely neighbour Pat, who passed away last week at the age of 85. Her friend Merle spoke at the service, it was very moving. They met as "adolescents" - the term "teenager" didn't exist back then. They were friends for over 70 years!

Merle said she'd moved to the country for several years and "many letters were passed back and forth" until she moved back to Melbourne. It made me think about how we live today, with social media. I know I'm not very social in the real world, I struggle with small talk and gossip and drama and crowds, and it's often far more appealing to just stay home. In a way I try to make up for that by being social online, but it's not the same.

It made me wonder how many of the people I know now, on and offline, will know enough about me to be able to stand up and talk about me when I'm 85, the way Merle did today...