Love, loss and the internet

A friend of my husband suffered a hard loss yesterday. The woman he loves was killed in a car accident. We live in a different province now and we found out online instead of the usual channels. What was once a private loss for loves, family and friends is now disseminated through Facebook status updates, tweets and texts. Suddenly the whole world shares our loss and can grieve with us; and it does. Strangers are invited to join "in memory of" groups. They do. More now than ever before we can feel and see that we aren't alone in our grief. We can write it out and be read.

E.M. Forster wrote: "Only connect the prose and the passion, and both will be exalted, and human love will be seen at its height. Live in fragments no longer." Though I have taken this quote out of context I think what I'm trying to say is still there. At first I worried that contacting someone by e-mail to offer condolences was a faux-pas of some sort, or was somehow less heartfelt because it wasn't sent in a card, but I feel differently now. No matter the distance or the emotional spaces between, we can connect through our words. Language is imperfect but sometimes it's all we have.

I realise it's close to the holidays, but I felt I needed to get this out. Life happens on every day of the year. Hold your loved ones close. Share your joy and even your sorrow. Despite how you might feel you really aren't alone.