Thanks, Twitter!

This is Parva. No, that is not her real name it is her twitter handle but that is what I call her. Yes, even to her face in real life. I met Parv on the internet! 

Do you remember being a kid and being told that strangers on the internet were dangerous? And, yes, there are some strangers on the internet that are totally dangerous, but in my experience, the strangers on the internet, at least on twitter and especially from the early days of twitter, are gold.

If I try to explain twitter to someone who has no idea what it is, I sound crazy. this was even more true in the early days of twitter before regular people and brands learned about our awesome snarky secret club and came and ruined it. 

I will now list the things that twitter has done for me. I know that this list is going to sound insane to those of you who don't use twitter, but all of these statements are true.

1. Twitter has saved my life on more than one occasion. I am an extrovert who lives in the middle of nowhere and being a stay at home mom for the first three years of Z's life nearly killed me. Twitter was my emotional outlet. I met other mothers on twitter who had children all around the same time I had Z. In the early days, we cheered each other on through the day. Yay! You made it through another Tuesday! You go, girl. Then, we discussed first foods, potty training and teething. Our children are now 5 or so, but we stay in touch. Those women saved me. If you are one of them, you know it. I love you all like sisters. I love watching your kids grow. You saved me.
2. Twitter makes me smarter and funnier. One of my favorite things about twitter is the snarky, quick comments. I love that it feels like a competition to get the bigger laugh. Twitter has lightened the darkness of life and news in so many ways.
3. I got my job through twitter. Believe it or not, my boss suffered through my tweeting for years and now she pays me to write tweets and Facebook posts. She knew all about my love of brown liquor and potty mouth for years before she hired me. I have met her in real life only three times. 
4. I met Kodi on twitter. My podcast buddy, Kodi, and I have only met in real life twice. This might sound insane to anyone who listens to our podcast, THE SWIRL, since we get on like old buddies, which we are. But 98% of our friendship occurred on twitter.
5. My twitter family often knows more about what is going on in my life than my real family. When my husband wants to know what I have been up to, he reads my tweets. My best friend (who was also my maid of honor) reads my tweets to stay up to date on my life. My mother does that, too. My mother lives on my block. My tweets are my life in real time. It is how I feel at any given moment. It is my life in 140 characters.
6. I refuse to list the friendships I have made on twitter because there are too many and you all mean so much to me. 

Except, special shoutout to Parv. First, because she is pictured above and second because if we had met in real life first, there is exactly zero chance that we would be friends. I would have terrified her. In fact, I totally did terrify her the first time we met, but we already were friends, so she was stuck with me. But, because of twitter, we are friends. We don't get to see each other as often as I would like, but I adore her and know that when I need her, she is there for me. She knows that about me, too. I love you, girl!

Thanks, twitter!