Of death and social media…

I got the call as I was watching Olivia Blatchford play Maria Toorpakai Wazir in the finals of the Manulife Investments WSA Tournament at Club Meadowvale.

It was my wife.

She broke the news as gently as she could – my mother had just passed away, in India!

In a bit of a daze, I stared at my beer. For a second I contemplated downing it before heading out, but decided otherwise.

Blatchford, the eventual winner, was beating up Toorpakai. Not quite what the crowd had expected.

But then, who can predict what a new day will bring?

The news about my mother was not entirely unexpected. Though, that did not make it any easier to accept.

I had been to India twice in the past three months. The first time, to participate in a joyful family reunion mostly centred around my mother. And the second, a month later, to visit her as her health took a turn for the worse. Her day-to-day existence seemed to hinge on a complex mix of tubes, catheters, oxygen cylinders, and wheelchairs.

Until she decided to call it quits!

How much do I share about it on social media?

Death is not an easy subject unless you are a celebrity – Robin Williams and Philip Seymour Hoffman come to mind.

Then there are others like Scott Simon, a renowned journalist from National Public Radio (NPR), who decided to share the final moments of his mother with his large Twitter following. In a strange way, I can now relate to Scott, which is not something that I could have conceived last week!

I realize that sharing emotional details of my life is a lot harder than sharing food porn.

To begin with, would any of my social media friends, connections, and followers really care? Certainly not my LinkedIn connections – except maybe a few of my colleagues, who have known me over the years.

No point sharing there.

Some of my Twitter followers may be curious.

While Twitter is my favourite social media channel, only a few people there really know me personally. Sharing on Twitter would be like screaming in the middle of a forest, more cathartic than anything else.

That left me with Facebook, where I have the fewest number of friends. 

Unlike LinkedIn and Twitter, most of my friends on Facebook actually know me, and to some extent care about me. A brief message about my mother’s passing seemed appropriate. So I posted a recent image of my mother with a brief status update.

Then I realized that I have another social media channel – my blog.

There is something to be said for blogs.

In a nutshell, it is my own platform. I am my own news channel and broadcasting station. I may not have the large audience some others have. But, it does give me the chance to articulate my thoughts and opinions, to whoever will listen.

In the blogosphere, my blog would be considered small. Nevertheless, there is always the chance that what I write about will appeal to the “feelings of the few.”

Normally, I write with my audience in mind. But, this one is for me.

Amma, you will be missed!

Image: http://all-free-download.com/freephotos/sunset_nature_lake_hallwil_232654_download.html