Facebook craze

Have you gotten caught up in the latest craze – Facebook? Recently, I started getting several notices from people asking me to join Facebook as a friend. Naturally, my lack of knowledge of computers made me wonder who was sending me all these requests and why so many lately.

My curiosity got the best of me, however, so I tried it. I received several from people I knew and one or two from people I didn’t know, but when I got one from Judy Johnson, I had to find out who this person was. So, I had to set up a password and went from there. Come to find out, it was the wife of a friend back in my days at LeTourneau University , the baseball coach, Elliott Johnson. Elliott and I were good friends, enough so that I visited his home several times for a meal, so naturally I knew his wife well, too. I was even Elliott’s baseball assistant for one day while I was the SID (sports information director). I quickly found out I didn’t have the time to be an assistant coach, because of the time I already had to spend as SID. Elliott required a dedicated person to help him with on-the-field situations, such as pitching during batting practice, hitting during fielding practice, etc.

While I may have enjoyed doing those things, I just didn’t have the time. Anyway, to make a long story short, Elliott moved on to another school in Illinois but last year came back to Oklahoma to coach. I followed his career and continued to do stories for the Longview News-Journal, just to let folks know of his progress.

Cynthia and I went to his sons’ weddings, one in Denton , TX and another in Cedar Hill , TX . while he was in Illinois and we plan to go see him when she retires, especially since he now lives in Oklahoma City . Anyway, back to my original story. I received a Facebook invitation from Judy. As I said before, I didn’t recognize the name, so I agreed to join, to mainly find out who wanted me as a friend. To my surprise, it was the wife of a friend.

I’m glad I did now, because she has pictures of their new log home as well as photos of Ben’s new baby. Since I became “friends” with Judy early last week, I’ve received the same Facebook notification from Nancy Shore and Bud Thompson, two friends from Heavener, and found another Heavenerite, Ron Johnston, whom I’ve already been in touch with, to check on his mother, Kathryn. It’s really amazing. I haven’t added my photo yet, but I plan to do so (when I find out how to do it), and talk back and forth with friends one-on-one. It’s much like the Heavener blogs we write now, except it’s more of a personal thing, or even e-mails. Check it out on facebook.com and see if there’s anyone you know.