Ok, well, mostly kind of meet.
On line.
Every once in a while though, I get the opportunity to actually meet one of those people face to face.
That happened tonight.
I've been reading Elisabeth Ellington's blog, The Dirigible Plum, for the past year or so. Elisabeth and I have a lot in common. For starters, we both did graduate work at the University of New Hampshire. Maybe more importantly, we are both charter members of AMOK (Adoptive Mothers of Older Kids). Both of us know the joy of coming to motherhood through adoption.
And we also know how stinking hard it is to be the moms of kids who have been through lots and lots and lots of trauma before they came to live in our homes. And try to help those kids heal.
Elisabeth writes eloquently about this experience at least once a week, in her Tuesday Slices or at Ruth Ayres' Celebration Saturdays. And every week, when I read about Elisabeth's experiences, I think, "Oh my gosh, she has been to my house." Sometimes Elisabeth's posts make me laugh. And sometimes they make me cry. The AMOK club can be very, very hard.
But tonight, it was very, very good. A couple of weeks ago, Elisabeth sent me a Facebook message that she was going to be in Denver today. We decided to get together for dinner. We met at a new restaurant, attached to the Tattered Cover. We ate yummy Detroit pizza (did you know there was such a thing? In case you are wondering, it's rectangular, and cheesy and very delicious). We shared our stories. Laughed. (I bet we could beat most other slicers at recognizing tennis shoe and sports gear brands and products). We also shared stories of how hard it is to help a traumatized kid heal. It's super hard. And sometimes super lonely.
But tonight, it was just really, really good.
I'm really thankful for this community.
And for all of the terrific people I have gotten to know.
If I didn't slice, I would never have gotten to meet Elisabeth.
Thank you, Slice of Life community.
9 comments:
Oh, I'm so happy for you both! As I've read your stories and I've read Elisabeth's stories, I saw the overlapping similarities, connecting the dots between your struggles. You have bonded over the stories of your lives. You both are amazing women and mothers. How awesome for you both -- and your stories will continue ... Thank you for sharing this joy!
That's great that you got to meet and spend time together, Carol. You sound as if it was really special.
What a beautiful slice!!! Meeting fellow slicers in real life has been such a highlight for me too!!! So many people here I consider FRIENDS!!! So happy you both got to meet and spend time together! YAY!
I love this Slice and how this site has created such an amazing community of teachers who share the stories of their lives. So happy for your face to face dinner and friendship!
How wonderful for you to meet your friend, Carol! I am thankful for this community, too, and hope to meet some of my online buddies myself one day!
Your slice made me smile. We are part of an amazing writing community, and you are right, meeting some of our online friends face to face can be great. I am so glad you and Elisabeth discovered each other and can share the triumphs and challenges of your parenting journey.
Carol,
I couldn't agree with you more. I truly value the connections I have made with others across Twitter, blogs, and other social media networks. I enjoy the interaction, and am always surprised at how much we all have in common.
The best part is always when we finally get to meet. I love the image of you and Elisabeth chatting over pizza. You two do have a lot in common. I know when I went to #nerdcampMI, one of the best things was getting to meet Leigh Ann, Michele, and Erika. I had been interacting with them for so long online that it was fun to finally put a live face with all of those conversations.
Thanks for sharing your story,
Cathy
The slice community is really one of the best. I LOVED attending the Slice dinner at NCTE last fall and getting to meet Julieanne and Tara and Melanie (and many others too, but I think I talked most to them). Incredible teachers, writers, women. And kudos to you for slicing at the end of your long day! I totally slacked on Tuesday and posted a book list. Not that there's anything wrong with a book list, but they take me 15 minutes to post whereas a slice can take hours to write!
It must have been incredible to spend time together! I loved reading about your connection.
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