This was a song my mother sang to me since the beginning of time, it seems. I didn't realize it until today but this is a Camp Fire song ... no wonder, my mother was a consummate Camp Fire girl.

But so appropriate for my thoughts today. I have been so blessed in my life with great friendships. Both past and present. And as it happens for most of us, our lives scatter and we become enmeshed with our own families and communities and organizations. We raise children; we make a difference in people's lives, in our world, and generally try and fulfill all of those childhood dreams and ambitions. Some we achieve, some we don't ... but for most of us, not for lack of trying.

And then an odd memory surfaces, a picture falls out of an old album, we see our children repeating our long ago thoughts and activities ... and we remember. We remember those idyllic days of youth. Or, we join a social networking site like Facebook or Twitter and suddenly our lives come full circle. Oddly, that is the part of the song above I didn't remember, "A circle is round, it has no end. That's how long I will be your friend."

In a world that is becoming smaller by virtue of technological advances, social networking websites are the consumer phenomenon of our era. Nielsen Online shows that social networks and blogs are now the 4th most popular online activity ahead of personal email, and member communities are visited by 67% of the global online population, March 2009. Facebook, it appears, has become the greatest player of them all.

For all of the warnings, the cautions, many of which are valid, I personally am glad for this phenomenon that enriches and creates a bridge from the young to the elderly; from the past to the present; and makes a full circle … a full life. Thank you, friends, for all that you’ve meant in my life; both then and now.