The Book of Face; Friend or Foe?

Awww, Facebook. Thou art a time-squandering addiction. We all know this, and we have all felt the struggle. We have become strangely accustomed to scrolling mindlessly through post after post from our friends, families, and that one person we met that one time. I KNOW people feel the confliction of being stuck behind a keyboard staring at the blue banner and lower case f, because I have witnessed, time after time, my FB friends "run away" from facebook. They will post a status stating their decision and their reasoning, and seemingly vanish from "the viral." Here's where i'm at on this routine... I THINK that if YOU THINK it's a good idea and will help you break the habit... mazel tov! Go for it! I will miss your throwback thursdays and mancrush mondays, but I will understand your seemingly rebirth into society.

However, I will never run away from my facebook. Here is why.

I am a girl with a complex situation. I have a unique family and whether they share my blood, or my surname, I love and cherish all of them. Some live far, FAR away.... others live down the street. I have a LOT of family, people! But here's where things get interesting; my family wouldn't be near as big if it weren't for facebook. If it weren't for facebook, I wouldn't have found my biological Aunt Patsy, and finding her quickly snowballed into several people entering and becoming an important part of my life.

I owe Facebook a lot.

When I turned 18 and recieved my adoption papers, I was thrilled to find out that my Mom had already taken to the OH so familiar website, and sure enough, found those that share my blood. Within hours I was writing the fateful message (via facebook) to my Aunt; a message that will go down in my memoir as the most important piece of writing i've ever scribbled out. Before long, I was connecting with family that lived as far East Canada as you can go, and that was possible as friend request after request came in. For hours, I looked through pictures of my cousins, for days I would study videos of my biological Dad playing guitar, and in no time at all... I was discovering my past, and building my new found future.

 I wouldn't have the life I know today if it weren't for this silly website. It really does connect you to people, especially when it matters most... like when it comes to finding the people who GAVE YOU LIFE, and gave you up (said in the most postive way ever.)

 

I understand that a lot of people feel that Facebook is a pointless, time-consuming, dramatic, waste of time, and, in a lot of ways, it is. However, for me, if it weren't for Facebook I wouldn't have so easily found my biological family. If it weren't for Facebook I wouldn't have had this amazing opportunity to be a part of something that I have longed for my entire life. If it weren't for Facebook, I... wouldn't of been able to send that fateful message on April 20, 2011... A message that has changed my life in so many ways. So,  I'm grateful for this stupid social network, 'cuz without it, my journey the past (almost) 3 years would've been a whole lot different.

 

And now, I am able to learn more about my family with each day through the couple lines of a status, or a silly picture. My father, Blair, is able to take a look into my growing up through the "throwback thursday" fad. I'm able to share my triumphs, and pose my questions. With a click of a button, I am chatting with aunts and uncles, cousins and grandparents.  

 

Facebook is a modern day invention that could be used for evil, or it could be used for good. I choose to use my facebook for good! This is our day in age, and it is what it is. So, think of me what you will, but I won't run from something that so easily ties ALL my family together in a way that's equal parts funny, sympathetic, happy, and completely full of love. Use your facebook for good, and you won't feel you need to run away from it. And, yes, I could POSSIBLY spend a LITTLE less time on the stupid site... all things in moderation, eh?

Thanks for the help, FB.

I am Lauren. I am CAMERICAN!

Soooo, I don't know if you guys knew this, or not, but I'm adopted ;) Haha, no, but really. Like mentioned in previous posts, I knew I was adopted my whole life. I also knew I had born and raised, true blooded, great white north Canadian birthparents. I took pride in calling myself Canadian growing up, although, we all know I was actually born in Utah. My family, both biological and adoptive, went to great measures to make sure I was born here in Utah.

I am an American Citizen, and have been my entire life. 

However, still I took the idea of being Canadian to heart, and allowed it to become a part of who I was growing up. If you knew me, even the slightest, you knew I was Canadian. Flags draped my room, I had their anthem memorized by heart, I worked to throw in words like "Eh" and "Aboot," and was always steadfast in cheering for Canada at the Olympic Games. I would stand with pride as they walked in, and belt out the National Anthem with them as gold was won. 

Not everyone loved this about me. Why? Because I was a living, breathing AMERICAN, and had been my whole life. Why was I cheering for another country?

Let me tell you why. 

Before my fateful 18th birthday, I knew little, to none, about my birthparents. Except for 3 words: CA- NA-DA. So, this is what I figure about my admiration and love for a country I'd only ever visited briefly; Canada was my security blanket. Canada was my link to the past, and possibly a link to my future. Canada, although large, housed the people that gave me life! While others looked at me quizzically, wondering what the big deal was.... I looked inwardly and found that loving this country was more than some childish infatuation; It was the reality check that I needed to hold on to, reminding me that I DID have a story, I DID have a past, and I DID have birth parents who loved me... I had Canada. 

Well, now the olympics are just beginning in Sochi, Russia, and i got hit hard by a new found idea:

I can cheer for both countries! Duh!

In the past few years I have been caught in a tidal wave of emotion, stories, meetings, and many more moments of discovering my past; the past that I'd always hoped was BEYOND Canada. My pre-adoption security blanket grew into so much more than JUST a country... and am I ever so glad it did. So, readers, with that, I am now able to, not let go of Canada completely, but come to the realization that I can love two countries equally. These olympics I will be cheering for BOTH my homes. 

I bleed as a Canadian. 

I survive as an American.

 I am... Camerican!