Warm & fuzzy virtual world

I'm not a warm and fuzzy person. I'm too practical, too results-oriented, too impatient to ever linger with the hugs and the cooing and other nurturing sorts of behaviors. It's not just me, but everyone in my biological family. I have some wonderful relatives, but none of us is really warm and fuzzy.

At least, not in my biological family. I have another sort of family that's different. I've been spending major holidays with a friend and her family since I was in college, and her parents pretty much unofficially adopted me.

The warm and fuzzy feature that I was most amused by was the friend's mother's penchant for sending me cards for all the holidays. And I do mean ALL the holidays. Not, perhaps, "sneak zucchini onto your neighbor's porch day," but any holiday that major stores are likely to offer cards and merchandise for. Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, Independence Day, Halloween, etc. Frequently, the cards also included newspaper clippings and coupons for anything she thought might interest me. Sometimes there'd be a holiday-themed gift too, like a St. Patrick's Day hand towel. Getting those little packets always makes me smile, which is, of course, the whole point of being warm and fuzzy.

It just dawned on me today that I've started doing something similar. Not cards -- I've never really been into cards -- but as I'm procrastinating my way across the internet, reading various bits of news and commentary, I keep thinking of other people I know who might be interested in the news/commentary. Instead of sending them cards with newspaper clippings, I'm sending the virtual-world equivalent: links to the very best tidbits that might amuse them.

It's perhaps normal for women to turn into some version of their own mothers, but I'm turning into a friend's mother!

I feel like I'm morphing into a different species, but the transformation certainly isn't a bad thing. I can only hope to someday be as warm a person as my friend's mother is.