A few weeks ago, Garry (an old school friend) and I were putting together the invitation list for the 30th Anniversary School Reunion this year. As we looked through the names of our school mates, Garry wondered if I knew where "Andrew C" (surname withheld) was these days.
Both Garry and I had lost touch with him when we left school in 1979 and despite regularly 'googling' his name over the years, no results came up.
While we were talking - and on a whim - I decided to search for him on Facebook. Of the 25 search results for his name, there was one with this photo that looked like our man.
A quick message from me to him to confirm that he was the right guy and we were connected. He told me that he had joined Facebook a few months ago for no particular reason and was now residing on a beach in a small coastal town in Queensland - and one of the fastest growing regions in Australia.
I realised that it took me three online minutes to connect to someone I hadn't heard from in 30 years. I was so impressed that I told the story to a few people and to my surprise, it happens quite frequently to a lot of people. So I thought that....
If you have a connection story or experience you'd like to share, please leave a comment below (I moderate the comments before publishing them) or send me an email. I'll formally publish the best stories in future posts.