This has been a most unusual vacation. Thanks to the magic of social media, I have several friends in Phoenix I have never met. I feel like we could move to Phoenix tomorrow and have no issues with finding people to hang out with. Facebook has also brought me back in touch with my second cousin Karl Seth who I have seen in over 25 years since he was a young child. I left Columbus just a few years after he was born. Today we meet Karl Seth, how lovely wife Katie and his three impossibly cute children- ages 4 years, 21 months and 4 months. We have lunch in Old Scottsdale. I am just about old enough to be Karl’s father, but we have become good friends on Facebook and we spend a couple of hours talking family sruff, a little politics of course and just passing the time. Then we take a stroll and do some window shopping. We had to cut our time together a little short because we’ve made plans to meet my friend Cameron for Happy Hour. We stop some random guy on the street to take the obligatory photo for Facebook and we are off, back to the condo for a quick clean up and out to meet Cameron.
We arrive at the mall a couple of minutes early so we do some shopping while we wait for Cameron. Kayla is looking for a dress for her friend’s wedding in a couple of months. Normally I would avoid dress shopping like the plague, but I’m tagging along trying not to be too much of a damper in their fun. There is random pop music playing in the store and I’m thinking of how it would be to have Shayna with us when the song Domino by Jessie J. comes on. For me this song has special meaning because when Shayna was 12 she made an amazing video of it with her lip syncing the song. The girl not only mastered the software, she had a great eye for how to deploy the special effects. I played the video at her celebration of life. I have a little moment with Shayna right there in Macy’s. I am expecting the tears to start any moment, but they don’t. They’re totally unpredictable at this point. I just remember her fondly and miss her talent and her wit.
Now Cameron has arrived so I’m off to meet her. I introduce her to Tywana and Kayla. They go off for more shopping and we head to the bar for a drink or two. I have been friends with Cameron for a couple of years on Facebook and watched her little girl grow up and her engagement and marriage to her husband. So I feel like we are old friends, but I realize I’ve never even heard her voice. We share the same passion for politics and matters of faith so we spend a couple of hours talking about the things we are passionate about including our spouse and kids of course. We have a great time. Tywana and Kayla return from their shopping and we head back to home base. Tomorrow we will go to the Unity church here with some more Facebook friends and then to brunch at their house.
