Social Media is an interesting topic. I really appreciate when people use it to keep others informed of hospitalizations of a loved one, when prayers are needed its a very effective tool. Some folks use it to promote their businesses, orchestrate family gatherings , birthday parties, anniversaries, a baby’s birth, first day of school etc.. It can be a very effective tool in our day and age.

Now and then, because someone sees your name come across a post that they commented on you can get reacquainted with folks you haven’t seen or heard from in years. That is what happened to me.

A few months back, I received a message asking me if I was related to the people who lived on such and such road 35 years ago. I replied that I was in fact related and that my family stills dwells on that road , and on that farm.  The older gentlemen then began to communicate every couple days with me. Asking about extended family members that he once knew.  It was an enjoyable exchange as I attempted  to bring him up to date regarding relatives . Some were still here, others had passed on.

The strangest thing happened that neither one of us could have known or foreseen. We began talking about other things in life besides just my family members that He used to know. He is a Mountain Man. He chose a tougher, harder way of life among the mountains and streams.  He took his wife and children many years ago and ,moved to the Mountains .  Together they built their  own log cabin on their own property.  He has  hunted and trapped for their food, grown their own vegetables. Has been a Guide for other men to come in and hunt bear ,or track  moose, elk etc.  He is an avid fisherman. He is entirely unique and I am proud to call him “FRIEND”.

Living somewhat off the grid as they say today, he taught his Sons how to be independent and how to survive in the wild, in the bitter cold of winter, how to keep warm and fed and hunkered down until a storm passes. How to rely on their own knowledge and instincts.   He has  many wonderful stories to tell of his life and the journey he chose. 

Recently I received a package in the mail. It was an unexpected delight from my Mountain friend. I opened the box and there inside was an old long john shirt that had been worn almost through and  wrapped around a bottle. I pulled the bottle from the box…it was a vintage Milk bottle  as unique as He is. Also inside the bottle was a letter on lined notebook paper all rolled up and tucked in neatly inside.  I tried to pull the shirt out but one sleeve had been rolled up half way and duct taped .  I removed the tape and found a piece of Copper Ore . 

The letter stated where the milk bottle had come from, where it was found, and the chunk of copper from his mountain near by.  The  “Message ” itself was absolutely priceless to me.

Upon the white paper the black   letters  were shaky and the pen strokes were heavy.  This wonderful man took the time to write me a HAND WRITTEN letter.  What a treat. Who does that now days?  He talked about his life, things he had done, the joys of living off the land. The hardships of life sometimes. The complications of just living and surviving the day to day when your body has stopped functioning as it used to.

For almost 28 years I had a treasured friend (37 years my senior) and he sent me a letter at least once a week and filled those letters with everything and anything under the sun. I would race to the mailbox, see  a letter from him and I would get all my work done just so I could sit down and absorb his letters. at one point we lived 3 miles apart and the last 15 years of his life we live 50 miles apart. Still when his letters  arrived it felt like someone had sent me a bouquet of flowers through the mail. I loved them. I craved them. I appreciated them. I always told  Burton that I knew one day one of us would out live the other and what a sad day that would be …especially if I was the one left behind. And I knew then that NO ONE would be sending me letters anymore. I have a suitcase full of his cards and letters and they are still just as touching and precious to me as the day they arrived in the mail. Burt has been gone 5 years now.

Now you can understand the thrill of receiving a package from “The old man in the woods” as he calls himself. To him perhaps it was just a message in an old milk bottle….but to me it was as if He had sent a beautiful bouquet of flowers right to my mailbox. 

Social Media =  Old Acquaintance = New Friend = GRATEFUL HEART