Twidow

Through the great social networking site, Twitter, I’ve had opportunity to connect with the downtown community, meet new people, and also relate to other widow(er)s and angiosarcoma/sarcoma patients and their families. I’ve sort of become the “geek” of my family and friends with my newfound Twitter addiction (it used to be Facebook), but I find it great to be able to connect with a whole new world of people that live just blocks from me, or are in the same/similar situation as I am. It makes me feel relatable, something I have been lacking.

Today I had a bit of a revelation as I tried to figure out exactly why I like Twitter so much. Yes, I enjoy attending our bi-weekly breakfast “lancups” and meeting other downtowners, and I like knowing about all the great local events and new people. But most of all, I like the interaction that I lack at home. With my roomie moving out as we speak, and just with the comings and goings of life, I miss the near constant interaction that Kevin and I had. The texting throughout the day as we dealt with the general public in our jobs, working out together at night, sharing drinks and backrubs on the couch watching the tube, relaxing conversation just before falling asleep. As a couple, you develop this great, beautiful, fluent in and out conversation technique unlike anything else. We all have fabulous friends that we connect with on this level, but as a couple, it’s a more intimate vibe in the simplest of conversations. When that isn’t there, relationships often fail. But when it is, your relationship is strong, active, evolving, and engulfing.

No, I don’t find ALL that on Twitter, but I witness couples tweeting back and forth in their cute ways of flirting with each other, I see friendships bloom as people realize how much they have in common with another, I sense the tug and pull of disagreements especially political ones, I watch groups of people planning events where we can all be together as a strong community family, and I see people gathering in a way I have not in a long time.

I’m a Twidow. A widow that tweets. A Twitter widow. I can’t find my connection here on earth anymore-he’s in Heaven watching over, and hopefully snickering as I make an idiot of myself time and again. But here on earth, I have my friends, my family, and now a whole new world of people that may not always get me, but they certainly try.

It’s pretty cool, and definitely entertaining. It fills in the blanks when I’m at home and just want to tell Kevin how my day was, or what a fabulous lunch I had, the great new place we have to try, the annoying quandrums of dealing with the public, the funny thing my cat did, and so on. I can’t share those moments with him, but I can snap a picture on my phone, tweet it out to all of you, and get a response, much like I would’ve gotten from Kevin. It helps, in some small way. It helps.

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Comments 3

  1. I think you’ve really hit on something here in regards the nature of social media and community. If I look closely at the people I consider to be my closest friends, most of them are people I have met, via social media, over the past few years. Some say that social media isolates us, but I’m not so convinced. You’ve reaped the benefits of how this online community easily moves into becoming a real, living, breathing community. Great observations!

  2. Found your web site via Facebook via Ken Mueller. Really like what I’ve read so far. Your current comments on Twitter have said what I’ve been thinking about recently as I “dip my toe” into Twitter waters. I have to try a lancup sometime. Thanks for the good writing!

  3. I really like this – twidow!! It could really reach others. Thanks for being so culturally relevant.

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