Hey Facebook, Thanks for the Memories!

I have had a love/hate relationship with Facebook over the years. First and foremost, it has, at times, consumed way too much of my time by mindlessly scrolling through posts, advertisements, videos, and people looking for recommendations. Not to mention all of the political posts and arguments over those posts (which I chose not to participate in). “News” posts claiming someone notable has passed away, only to discover after several people have re-shared the post with RIP sentiments, it’s an old post and the person has been dead for years. Seriously, how many times do we have to say goodbye to Mickey Rooney? No offense to him, I’m sure he was a great guy.

But, there is one aspect of Facebook I have grown to love and that is Facebook memories; specifically videos. There is nothing like playing a video from several years ago of my son, now 13, where I can hear his squeaky little boy voice and watch his silly faces and dances he used to be more than willing to share. Picture and post memories are great, but there is something more special about the videos. They capture a moment in time when life was a little bit easier. He was happy, carefree and stress-free, a far cry from where he is today at the ripe old adolescent, puberty stricken age of 13.

The videos are not just for me to enjoy. I’ve actually shown them to my son and I get to see that smile of his that, for a moment in time, brings him back to the happiness he once knew as a little boy. Of course, I don’t want him or me to live in the past, but I know from my own experience how comforting it can be to rewind to a time when life seemed so carefree and joyful.

These videos help us to preserve the mother/son bond that can be so hard to maintain as he gets older. For me, it reminds me I was and am a good mom. We all make mistakes and are learning as we go. But, one thing I know for sure is that no matter what amount of time passes, no matter how big or moody my son gets, he is mine, I held him in my body for nine months. I nurtured him, comforted him, kissed his boo-boos, yelled at him, cried with him and sat in awe of him. So, thank you Facebook, for giving me those glimpses into time that I have come to cherish and making me realize no matter how quickly the years go by my love for him will only continue to bring joy to my heart. Together we will make new memories and I’m counting on Facebook to be there so I can look back and smile on those precious moments of the past and look forward to more moments to come.