57. Bringing the whole family together.

My mom and dad both grew up--for the most part--amidst the mosquitos, Scandinavians, 10,000 lakes, and -67 degree winter temperatures of Minnesota.

After they got married, they moved as far away from all of that as they could. Which is where they raised me: amidst the legalized prostitution, gambling, nuclear waste, and 117 degree summer temperatures of Nevada.

Most of our extended family stayed in Minnesota. We got back that way about every two years as my brother and I were growing up, but since graduating from high school (now nearly 10 years ago...mercy), I've only been back to Minnesota once.

That's the one thing I've really missed out on in my life: having all my relatives--grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, second cousins, first cousins once removed, etc--in close proximity. Especially my uncles. I'm pretty sure that I would be super-close with my uncles on both sides of my family were I closer in proximity to them; some of them are the funniest individuals I know, and every last one of them is a great guy.

So you can imagine how much good it's doing my heart to see Facebook bringing me in closer proximity--of sorts--with my long-lost family members.

My mom's side of the family, in particular, has started signing up en masse--in the last week or two, I've added three uncles, two aunts, and several cousins to my list of friends on facebook. I also have a handful of second cousins from my dad's side of the family on there as well.

It's made me realize how much I miss all these folks, but more than that, it's made me so very grateful. I now have a place where I can interact with much of my extended family on a much more consistent basis.

And, it doesn't involve schlepping out into -67 degree weather.