Modern Day Pen Pals

There we sat, wrapped warm in the corner of a fragrant french pastry shop, with our chocolate croissants, warm rich drinks, our children and husbands, talking the morning away, all the while the rain poured outside. We laughed and talked and shared. About life, families, travels, our children and how we met our spouses. Some long time friend reacquainted? Not exactly.

I've been a part of this world of blogs for a just over a year. And I would never have guessed it would become a part of my life. A place to pour out my heart, give and receive encouragement, advice, lots and lots of laughs. But I never would have guessed how connected it could make me feel to people I'd never met and probably never will. Remember back when meeting people on the internet was taboo? How only desperate people met friends and spouses online. And not that it can't still be a scary place, it is. But it to a certain extent the stigma has been removed.

I "met" Summer earlier this year. I was pregnant, she wasn't. She lived in Seattle, I in Bakersfield. We were worlds apart. Unknown strangers reading each others blogs through random chance, mutual blogs and a shared obsession with a certain photographer. Now she's pregnant and I'm not and both of us were game to doing the unthinkable...breaking the blog barrier and meeting face to face.

She called to say she and her husband and daughter were downstairs in the lobby.
My heart raced. Part excitement, part trepidation. I didn't really know her. Do I shake her hand? Do I hug her? Will I even recognize her? What if we didn't know what to say? Ran out of things to talk about? What if it was..dum dum dum dum.... awkward? What if she turned out to be a psycho and chopped me up in little pieces and dumped me on the side of the road in a Starbucks cup? (Okay that was more Scott's thought than mine)

But there she was, her face lit up and so did mine. I hugged her and before we could even get out the door, down eight blocks and into the pastry shop I felt like I'd known her my whole life. I think I drove Scott nuts. We talked non-stop, without a break, without a lull, without any awkward pauses. And when we finally parted ways two hours later I wished I didn't have to.

It's bittersweet. I'm so thankful I got the opportunity to put a face to the heart I've been reading these path months. But sad that we are so far away, not knowing if we'll have a chance to share our lives over warms mocha's and lattes again.

But until we do, if we do, we still be here, friends connected by a single moment, and endless posts.