Getting to Know You the Facebook Way

Tea Time

Written by Nicki Wilcoxson

Today has been an absolutely glorious day in Amarillo-NO wind and warm temperatures. People are beginning to come out of hibernation to water the lawns and even mow and thatch. Jim and I spent time sitting on the deck and even ate lunch there. The cats loved having us and they are probably dreaming of those hot summer days when their mom comes out to work in the flower beds and provide kitty entertainment for them while they watch.

Of course, my tea for today is freshly brewed and iced.

Over the course of this week I have considered possible topics for this post and even started one on a topic that I have discarded for now and moved on to another one. Sitting on the deck gazing around the yard, I have been moved by random thoughts to return for a moment to my last post in which I discussed Facebook, Twitter, and Tweats. (February 11)

In the two weeks since I brought up the subject of social Internet use, many of us have marched forward fearlessly to conquer the brave new world of Facebook. What an adventure! First of all while some of us have been stumbling about trying to figure it all out, Jennifer has quickly and effortlessly become the "Queen of Twittering"! In no time at all she had links and photos on her “wall” and had invited every one possible to “become her friend” on Facebook (henceforth known as simply FB). I think all of her friends received FB virtual pokes or superpokes as well as appropriate virtual gifts (I got a virtual cup of tea which was yummy) and tweats or comments. On the other hand some of the new users are still lost to us trying to find themselves on FB. Mike Spradley, Marilyn Havens, and Linda Cook are still trying to figure it out, but I have faith they will find the way back to us, soon. Clara was lost for a bit trying to figure out “boxes” and she still isn’t convinced that anyone cares what she is doing “right now.” Happily she has hung some great photos that she has taken on her “walls” and we look forward to more FB comments soon.

Sheila is having a great time, too. She has the cutest grandkids ever and her term of endearment for them is the “Brat Pack.” We also learned that she ate too much of a good thing the other night—spaghetti, salad, garlic bread, and wine. It was so good she didn’t complain too much about her misery! Sharon Wadley shared today that she is making a quilt with her mother who is 92. Talk about building memories!

We discovered that not only are we having a great time with our classmate friends, but we are discovering all kinds of things about our own children, grandchildren, their friends, and a whole bunch of other relatives and people who are suddenly reunited through FB. It was fun to be in real time with our son-in-law who spent the last 2 weeks in Norway as he posted his photos and comments.

As we announced on the Voices bulletin board we even expanded our boundaries when we created a group for FB called “Childress (Texas) High School Classes of 1960-66”. FB allows for the creation of all kinds of groups to attract people with common interests and goals.

Through the group we have already solved a mystery:

It was a dark and stormy night… No not that kind of mystery! This is a mystery of mistaken identity. Soon after we created the group, “Grams” Barlow joined our group. After we shared a few emails with each other in the effort to identify “Grams” we made our best guess and decided that Grams must be our good friend and classmate Carolyn Loter Barlow. Hooray and good news to have Carolyn with us! There was an exchange of emails with Grams/Carolyn and comments welcoming her to the group. But wait! Something was not right and soon an awful awareness came to us that Grams was not at all our Carolyn, but instead someone else who probably thought we had lost our minds. After a bit of head scratching and embarrassment we learned that Grams is really Linda Holland Barlow of the Class of 1964 and Carolyn Loter is Carolyn R Barlow on FB. Thankfully, Carolyn Loter Barlow was more than happy to set us straight with this great email.

Yes, the Carolyn R. Barlow (Nana) is me and I'm proud to say, Linda (Grams) is my sister-in-law. We so happened to have married the Barlow brothers from Cee Vee. She got Jimmy, the serious one and my Jerry is the nut or rather the funny one. In the 60's they had a band called the Hadlow's which consisted of Sherry Sides husband, Dennis Haddon, Wayne Haddon, Jimmy and Jerry Don. They never made the big time like they kept telling us they would, so I'm sure you've never heard of them, but they sure 'swooned' Linda, Sherry and me. Ha! Something must have worked because we're all three still married to them.

Please be patient with me, I'm not active on Facebook (or the Blog) due to still having 'slow slow' dial up internet service and anything with pictures or attachments takes forever to upload. We live way past the last of the three wild grape vines in Eastern Oklahoma so we are just proud as punch to have progressed beyond the tin can and string. Seriously, we live 13 miles from one town and 7 from another so DSL is within 4 miles of us now. But I just last week called several INS providers and I'm fixing to do something real quick like. Girl, you will be the first to know. I've been able to read a little of the blogs and love it. You and Jennifer have done an outstanding job of getting everyone interested. Wait and see, I'll be talking to you soon.

Hearing from Carolyn is always a treat and we are so pleased that she and Linda (Grams) are both part of the Childress group.

Through the group we have learned a bit more of our history as Childress teens of the 60’s.

Jimmie Ruth Weir Smith joined the group early on. Jimmie was only too happy to give us the facts about the Blue Room in Childress—how it came to be and what it meant to her, her siblings, and her parents. What a great way to remember the “good old days.”

Because of the group we have connected with Steven Fanning from the Class of 1964. Steven (or perhaps I should say, Dr. Fanning) is a professor at the University of Illinois in Chicago. Steven is a published author whose latest book is available on Amazon. Steven has much to share with us and we are very happy that he is a part of our group. Jennifer and Yahn are looking forward to meeting with Steven when he makes a trip to Texas in March.

Our group now has 17 members which isn’t bad for less than two weeks.

Shelia Davis Martinez, Clara Meek, Linda Bridges Cook, Marilyn Baker Havens (’61), Sharon Molloy Kelly, Jimmie Ruth Smith (’64), Linda (Grams) Holland Barlow (’64), Mike Spradley, Jennifer Johnston Smith, Sharon Wadley (’66), Jim Drake, (’62), Marsha Harris Thomas (’64), Gary Hargrove (’65), Steven Fanning (’64), Sue Yager (’66), Nicki Wilcoxson, and Jim Wilcoxson.

We would love to have more of you on FB because it really is a different much more relaxed fun way to learn more about one another. There is such a mix of people commenting and “tweeting” that it is somewhat like a puzzle where you take pieces from all over in order to see the big picture. Several conversations going on at once and photos from everyone help make it all interesting. No one needs an invitation to become a member of FB; you simply join and start collecting friends by sending invitation through FB to people that you would like to have as “friends”. Many groups are by invitation only so if you have not yet received an invitation to join the CHS group, either Jennifer or I can send one to you. The only requirement is that you were a part of Childress High School between 1960 and 1966.

Friends and surprises are waiting around the corner—you just never know whom you will meet!

And so…next time on Tea Time there will be more tea to drink and new topics and worlds to explore. You are all invited!

An image from the past sent by Harold Simmons