The Friend List

The friend list, what power it has. Some people thrive on additions of friends without even thinking about it. Just click and friend, it's that simple; and there you have it, a thousand friends to boast about. They comment, they give you a thumbs up, and they scroll down your endless “status updates” from what you had for breakfast to the color on your toe nails. We post, like, and friend everyone and everything without a second thought.

It's a virtual life we live in these days. We are the “Powerful Oz” living behind a curtain pushing buttons and posting our lives away. Only thing is that we've been doing it for so long, we've forgotten what real life is all about and how fabulous living is as opposed to simply posting. We sit around a dinner table with our phones out not speaking to people but texting, posting, and scrolling. “If it's not posted on FB or on Twitter, it's not real, it didn't happen.” I heard someone say recently which got me thinking, “What the fudge!?” (I didn't actually think “fudge” but you get the jest.)

We live in a virtual world. A cold, distant, and isolated virtual world. The more connected we try to be, the more detached we become. People just don't pick up their phones anymore. We can't sit and simply talk, chat, laugh, and give a thumbs up the old fashion way. We have lost the ability to share one on one without 500 other people reading about it and approving or disapproving. We have become a whole generation of virtual phonies. Harsh, perhaps, but the truth sometimes is.

As our virtual friend list massively grows, our real life friends are challenged to remain just that, real. I have found that those real friends will always stay true no matter how much clutter and diversion the virtual life throws at us. They will pick up the phone, they still cry, drink, and laugh with us, and we can talk for hours the “old fashion” way - sitting down face to face. They will be there live when you need them, no questions asked, and it doesn't matter what you've posted or not because they are real friends. How truly wonderful.

Recently, I came across an “old” friend wanting to stay in touch with him, I asked, how best to do this. “It's a complicated word these days.” I said. “Do you facebook, twitter?” “Honey, I don't do any of that just pick up the phone and call me. I'll be here.” He said. I couldn't help but smile from ear to ear. (I'll write more about him later.)

Status Update, Virtual Friends, 490; real friends, well, let's just say they're a whole lot less.


 Copyright ©Lucy Tamajon 2014

Havana on the Hudson

We were asked to come up with a resident of Union City, New Jersey who would be worthy of a life time achievement award.  As I thought, the floodgates of my mind opened and memories of the town I call home came gushing out.

Union City, New Jersey is not only historic but a town filled with incredible love.  It has earned two nicknames through the centuries,  the Embroidery Capital of the United States and Havana on the Hudson.  Incorporated in 1925, it is rich with unbelievable history that has woven a fabric unlike any other city in this great country.  Influenced by two major waves of immigrants Germans and Cubans, it has made its place on the map as “Havana on the Hudson”.  Yet, it is the greatest of melting pots that will ever exist composed of Germans, Irish, Italians, Jews, Polish, Puerto Ricans, dating back to the Dutch settlers in the 1660’s.

Growing up in Union City was a unique and soulful experience.  We were surrounded by the greatest city in the world, New York City.  The view on my way to school every day and as I stood on Summit Avenue and 28^th Street was the Empire State Building, and what a view it was.  It represented everything we could be and held my every dream.  We were lucky enough to have grown up in Union City when things were still “small” and there was a sense of community.  Everyone knew everyone else.  We were neighbors and everyone helped everyone else get their feet on the ground.  We bought milk and bread from the corner store.  There was a butcher down the block.  We rode bikes to school, played along Boulevard East and stared at the big city across the river with all its promises.

Who can forget Thanksgiving Day and the big game, Emerson and Union Hill?  Thanksgiving has never been quite the same without that game.  Roosevelt Stadium, Hudson County Park, St. Michael’s Monastery, Holy Family Church, Union Hill High School, Emerson, Robert Waters, Washington School, and Bergenline  Avenue, to name a few; all brings a smile to my face.  And, of course, Cuban Day Parade which is still happening and one of the biggest events that now take place and securing its nickname, Havana on the Hudson.

For me, this is home, Union City, New Jersey.  A “little” city sitting overlooking the Hudson filled with history, scenic views, mansions, apartment buildings, alleys, crowded streets, back yard bar-b-ques, and most importantly people  you can’t find anywhere else.

Who is worthy of the Union City Life Time Achievement Award?  Only one entity comes to mind, Union City, itself for cultivating a breed and weaving a multi-cultural fabric unlike any other for centuries.

Copyright ©Lucy Tamajon 2014