I found a long-lost cousin through Facebook. I hadn’t anticipated this could ever happen, especially because his name is quite common: Bill Hall.
Bill was the oldest child of my mom’s brother. Our families never lived near each other; the Halls lived in the New Orleans area, and the Riggs lived on the West Coast or in Ohio. We only saw each other three times, and the last time was in 1971, when we were both around 18. After that, our families just lost touch.
There weren’t any real reasons for our families’ estrangement, other then distance.There was no anger, drama, or ill will. It’s just that we siblings and cousins got busy with our own lives, families, and careers, and connections faded over time.
I decided to see if Facebook could help me find my cousin. It was 2013, and I was finishing up projects in early retirement.I didn’t know if he even used Facebook, or where he might live. Have you ever just typed a name into the “Search Facebook” bar and seen the endless lists of people with that name,or similar names,worldwide? It’s overwhelming.
I randomly clicked on Bill Hall profiles on Facebook, but none seemed right. Then, one day, a profile popped up with a picture that looked vaguely familiar. I was relying on my memory of what he looked like as an 18-year-old, and I didn’t have any pictures for reference. Plus, we were both about 60 by then!
I debated whether to message this Bill Hall, who lived in Texas and resembled my memory of my cousin. I finally sent him a message, mentioning our last meeting and what we’d done together. We’d gone to a local honky-tonk in the country that had beer and a live band.
This