My neighbor lost his 23 year old daughter last week. She died in a car accident. She was an accomplished young lady. She graduated Summa Cum Laude. She won the Paul Wright Award for best female athlete at Western State and was the Div II NCAA runner-up in the 3000 meter steeplechase. But more than her accomplishments she was a sister, a daughter, a wife (of only 1 month) and a friend.

There is no Twitter, Facebook, Blog, Flickr, or LinkedIn that can replace family or friends. Despite the wonderful things they enable, such as friendships and communication they can never replace life. Social media is what happens in between the lines of life. Life is the walks, the talks and the hugs.

There were no tweets during the funeral. There were no Facebook status updates. There was no social media. No online communities. There were people; people in tears. There were hugs, lots of hugs. There was laughter and there was sadness. There was faith, hope and love. A community came together today. It came together without being poked, tweeted, followed, or forwarded.

I attended a funeral today. My friend lost is his 23 year old daughter.

I came home and hugged my daughters till they made me let go.