In this life, there are all kinds of addictions. I have already confessed my need for shoes. I’ve told you about how I love to shoe shop and look for different styles, and how I always seem to buy shoes when I go shopping.

But, I have recently acquired a new addiction. I am a Facebook addict.

Since returning from my maternity leave, I have become obsessed with Facebook. Now, when I say obsessed, I don’t mean ‘can’t live without it’ but I do like it a lot.

I joined Facebook to become a fan of the paper to earn my 25 cents towards Relay for Life. But, I didn’t realize how cool it is.

In the past month, I have talked to people I haven’t seen in 15 years. I have chatted with Robert in Iraq, and shared pictures of the kids to all of my friends.

It wasn’t until this week I became blown away by the Facebook power. I checked my profile Monday morning to find Jessica Valentine requesting to be my friend. Her mom, Linda, also put in a friend request.

I became very excited because I have not seen these people in more than 20 years.

Mr. and Mrs. Valentine and their children, Jeff and Jessica, were a huge part of my childhood. In fact, I harbor awesome memories of these people.

The Valentines lived down the road from us in Evergreen, Texas, long before we ever moved to Arkansas in 1988.

Jeff was the same age as Robert, and Jessica was a few years younger than me. Mrs. Valentine was a first grade teacher and Mr. Valentine was retired. I know he was in the military. Which branch escapes me now.

We spent a lot of time at their house and vice versa. Some of our best memories as children were of us camping out with the Valentine children. Jessica and I would sleep near the house while the boys opted to sleep close to the road.

Besides just hanging out with them and attending birthday parties, the cub scouts were a huge part of all our lives.

Robert was very active in the scouts, and my mom helped Mrs. Valentine with the troop as assistant den mother.

Jessica and I would tag along a lot.  We were the only two girls allowed on Cub Scout field trips.  Not all of them, just some of them.

We would all be at the special scout meetings where there skits, and food. It was a great time.

We even attended church with this family. It seemed as though our lives would always be intertwined. And, then, we moved.

Not to Arkansas at first.  We moved to another town in Texas because of work issues, and eventually to Arkansas.

While we still lived in Texas, we would see the Valentines every now and then, but not as much as before.

And, when we made our move to Arkansas, we lost touch. Not at first, but as our lives grew and became more chaotic, we lost touch with these wonderful people.

I remember getting the call that Mr. Valentine had passed away. I had a dream the night before the phone call. I was walking inside their house and on their property. No one was there. I was looking for someone but no one was there.

Jeff and Robert had already graduated from school and Jeff had joined the military.  Seems like it was the Air Force, but I’m not certain.

I was home alone when the call came in, and I was devastated. Mom said the dream was God’s way of preparing me for the news.

After that, Jessica and her mother moved to another place, and we lost touch for good…until now.

I cannot wait to talk to them and catch up with them. Twenty years is a very long time. And all of this is made possible by a funny new website called Facebook.  Don’t you just love it?