Had a great experience this weekend and facebook made it possible

Rob Keeble

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Location
GTA Ontario Canada
This weekend Linda is busy on facebook on her tablet and she says hey so and so has posted a comment you would like.....

The comment was "Money does not buy happiness but it does by flyfishing tackle which is just about the same thing" and a picture of this person in fishing gear catching trout.

Well it turns out the son of one of my long time friends in South Africa was the poster. I don't really do facebook so I asked Linda to reply to him and tell him how he made my day. Then I wrote his mother who I still keep in touch with and told her she should be really proud of how he turned out and how delighted it made me to see the next gen getting into the sport and to hear how he has turned out, asked her to pass on his address because since she happens to be from Scotland and I have a book to send him that was given to me in Scotland all about fly fishing on Scottish Rivers and Lochs.

Well this morning I wake to find an email from him with a bunch of pictures that as the old school would say "Warmed the cockles of my heart".

This young man today is a chartered accountant, makes me feel old to think how much time has passed. Well he writes to tell me how he got into the sport and remembers us going out on fishing trips and tells me how he got to fish in Scotland with his grandpa before he passed. He sent me pics of himself in the waters wading and pic of his soon to be fiancé he tells me but he also remembers the cool times we had at Guy Fawkes night at my place launching rockets and my model version of the Space Shuttle.

I cannot find the words to describe how cool it was to hear from the guy and I quickly told him to drop the "Uncle bit", :rofl: feel old enough without being reminded by such salutations. :) Everyone older than us when growing up was either an uncle or an aunt. LOL

But to hear that he remembered and felt those times fishing with me influence his love for the sport well lets say it was a huge lift to the spirit. He may get an opportunity to come to the US next year on business and I hope if it happens he gets the chance to come to visit. Would be a treat to see him again as the last time I saw him he was around 12 years old. That would be cause for serious fishing trip even if its winter. He aint ever been ice fishing.:)

He ties his own flies too and is going to send me a box of flies that he has tied as a gift.

Thanks to Facebook for making this possible just wanted to share the good news.
 
I've reconnected with a wide range of people from my past through Facebook. Also met some cool new people in the process, too. :thumb:

It's very cool to find out something you did years ago inspired someone. :thumb: I know the feeling.
 
Rob,

That's a great story. I really hope your friend does get to visit with you.

Enjoy,
JimB

PS My father tried his best to turn me into a fisherman. However, the word, "Still" cancelled the entire process. I did not understand staying still or being quiet or don't rock the boat or don't hang over the stern, or etc.
 
As a hermit that lives on an isolated desert compound, I enjoy the social opportunities the internet has to offer, with such sites as Facebook and FWW...:rofl:

But seriously, I have experienced very similar re-connections over Face book.
 
It's very cool to find out something you did years ago inspired someone. :thumb: I know the feeling.

This is so definitely true! Its amazing how what seem like small things can have hugely long reaching consequences. I've experienced this both directions and its surprisingly often things you might not even remembering having done that can have a huge impact on peoples lives.
 
Well, Rob, you might be surprised how many times you influenced in even a small way. :thumb: Probably for only one you hear of, there might be 20 out there that took your advice to heart and made their lives better. Think about your life and all those who influenced you. Sadly for most of us oldies, we don't have the opportunity to go back and thank them...but they are still in our hearts.

You done good.
 
FB can be WONDERUL!

I've had a FB account for quite a while, but I didn't really do anything with it until a couple years ago. To tell you the truth, it has helped me through some pretty rough times. (currently still going on)

It allowed me to connect with old friends who have given me a lot of support through my diagnosis. I didn't make much more than vague references on the open news feed until fairly recently. But about six months ago, I saw a post from another FB friend that I felt compelled to reply to. It was a link to a page of one of their friends who has a daughter with the same disease that I'm battling. (unfortunately, the juvenile form is fatal :(). I read the page and it brought me to tears. There was an email link in the post. I felt compelled to email the mother of this poor little girl just to offer some support. I really didn't expect a response. About a week later, I got a response and an apology for the delay, but she had been in the process of setting up hospice care for her daughter. When this woman whom I've never met found out that I was battling Tay Sachs also, she told me of a private FB group for Tay Sachs patients and families. They are by invite only and don't show up in searches so I would have never known about it. Since joining that group, I've found two other similar groups and have joined them. One of them is strictly for late onset patients like myself. It is a very small group, because I am one of only roughly 100 confirmed cases of this disease in the entire United States. But I've been able to connect with other patients and find out how they are dealing with the condition. It has helped me a LOT.

There is a lot of garbage on FB, and I don't play those ridiculous games but it has been a very good source of support for me in a very difficult time in my life.
 
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