Virtual Connections
I would be lying if I said I knew exactly the moment @AnnOhio and I started corresponding, maybe 4-5 years ago?
Ann Miller, AKA @AnnOhio on Twitter, and I have become great, great friends despite the fact that we never met in person before today.
How is this possible? Well, it happens, especially these days. Think about it, how many people do you know simply through social media that you've never met in person? I bet there are more than a few!
Ann is one of those special people I struck up a friendship with almost instantly. She is a woman with an incredible heart and a soulful spirit that is so amazing. She became a big supporter of my Ripple approach early on, often reposting my BLOGS, or my Tweets on Facebook and Twitter. After getting to know her through all these years, I suspect she's been a Rippler all her life.
Some neat facts about Ann.
Ann posts inspirational thoughts and ideas regularly on social media. She always brightens my day with her posts.
She's is an incredible knitter. She made me a Ripple Blue cap which I proudly wore this winter. (I miss winter, thanks to summer in Texas).
She also does special knitting projects and gives them to hospitals to distribute to kiddos and patients that need a little cheering up.
She moved from Ohio to Texas. I bet she regrets that decision during the summer but not so much during the winter.
She strives to walk 10,000 steps a day. She's inspired me to do the same.
She's a software trainer that gets to travel all over the world. She turns every client into a friend.
She's a two-stepping fool. Hmm, wonder if she'd give me lessons so I don't embarrass my wife?
She's not a fan of hot sauce. Despite living in Texas she says she wants to keep her taste buds.
George Strait is giving her a private concert tomorrow night. Well, not exactly but I have a feeling it will feel like that.
She has a smile as big as her heart. And people let me tell you, her smile is infectious.
She's my friend. And always will be.
Ann and I met today for breakfast. Anyone who would have seen us would have thought we were old friends. Despite never meeting in person, we are.
People often say to me they admire the wide variety of people I know and the friendships I've developed over the years. I always use those conversations as an opportunity to remind people (and I guess you too since you're reading this now) that they too can have the same kind of friendships and experiences if they are willing to just try to have them.
It would have been so easy to just say @AnnOhio is someone who follows me on Twitter and not spend any time getting to know her. But that would have been my loss. Now several years later, I can honestly say, I am blessed by our friendship.
Virtual connections like Ann don't come along often but when they do, you need to take the time to appreciate them.
That's how they become friends.
Ripple On!!!
ICYMI: