The Facebook Reunions: Round One

You ever have those times you run into someone from your past, hook up, get a glimpse of what your life might've been, and then have a headtrip kinda night?

Behold the power of Facebook. Hooked up with someone from the old days yesterday. She still lives in the 'burbs, has that laid back kind of life centred around the family and probably not a lot beyond that. But she's happy, right?

I'm truly my mother's daughter. She should've been one of those happy-to-be-happy kind of suburban moms who gave up a lot to be a good mom and an acceptable wife. And she was, for a couple decades, and then it hit her, her incredible unhappiness, and she ended the marriage. But the thing that set her apart from all the other suburban moms was that she raised me in the city. We'd have lunch on Robson Street, shop in Chinatown, and play in Stanley Park. Other kids stayed in the 'burbs and had the once-a-year exposure to the city I was getting monthly or more. And it wasn't because we had money; we didn't. We had public transit and cheap sandwiches in fancy joints. But we got out there and saw our world.

Growing up, I was surrounded by those people who loved their suburbs and kept to 'em, but I was indoctrinated to the love of the city by my mom. When I returned from the North after a year at 21 and had to crash with the mother unit, she'd actually sold her suburb home and moved right into the city, just a couple clicks from all the action. Best gift she ever gave me, y'know. I don't know if I'd have moved to the city with her doing so before me. Everyone I knew was in the suburbs still.

So, the inevitable after-15-years Facebook reunion was yesterday, and it was interesting, you know? She's probably a lot like I would've been had I stayed in the suburbs and married the Safe Guy who foolishly asked me for my hand years and years ago.

There are days when being single involves a lot of "How much longer am I staying single this time?" kinds of questions, days when the novelty is wearing off a little too much for anyone's good. So it's interesting for a perenially single gal, like me, who's actually hearing the ticking of her biological clock* of late, to be faced with the married-with-kid standard-issue nice-suburban mom unit.

For all I know I've given up, sitting here in my trendy apartment with reasonably clean floors, sunshine pouring in the windows, clean laundry of the verge of happening, before I wander off to a cafe for a breakfast and coffee... I certainly enjoy these rare perfect mornings where I have no one -- NO ONE -- else to answer to, and a good book to read.

Yeah, sharing your life is wonderful and nice. Maybe you can indeed live on love alone.

Sometimes, though, not sharing is a fucking blast, and actually BEING alone is just what the doctor ordered. It's a beautiful fuckin' morning. :)