In what will surely be a made-for-TV movie coming soon to the Hallmark, Family, or Lifetime (possibly) channel, my mother was able to re-connect with her (literally) long-lost half-brother and half-sisters this week via Facebook. As a result, I now have an excess of riches in the aunt, uncle, and cousin department.
In the beginning, I was quite apathetic towards the different social networking sites, especially MySpace. However, two things won me over to Facebook. First, it has a clean, mature, professional look. Second, I found many old friends that I had lost in my trails, travels, and travails through the site. When one of my mother's old friends popped up on the 'book, I told her she ought to join up.
Fast forward a few months and my mother decided, on a lark, to try searching for one of her half-sisters whom she hadn't seen in forty years or so, give or take a few years. Surprise of surprises, she got a hit. Not long after, first contact was made.
Casting Note: The part of my mother will be played by either Valerie Bertinelli, Jo from Facts of Life (Nancy McKeon), or Bebe Neuwirth.
As of... now, three siblings have been reclaimed from the murky waters of Lethe. Conveniently, none of them live far from me or my sister. Consequently, the first meeting in the flesh between the lost family branches will take place next Saturday in Philadelphia. We're all very excited.
I guess this means I can be counted among the social networking success stories. I have to give them credit where credit is due. It's times like this that make me forget the propagation of cyber-stalkers, hackers, spam-artists and mega-perverts that these sites seem to spawn with geometric rapidity. So, with that caveat, thanks Facebook, I owe you one. Don't let it go to your head.
Production Note: My script, tentatively titled "Time Bandits Stole My Family" (based on a true story) is being handled by top men at an important studio. Top. Men.
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