Remembering

Facebook sent me a reminder to wish a friend a happy birthday. Problem: the friend died nearly 6 years ago. I was the administrator of his estate; I notified Facebook and they required me to send a copy of his death certificate before they would delete his data. I didn’t have another certificate handy and the estate was closed. So that was that.

Ever since I get annual reminders of Steve’s birthday.

How many others have this same experience? How many thousands or millions of people are in Facebook Limbo?

Seems to me FB would want something like this cleaned up.

We had a couple in our church. Elderly; they both succumbed within months of each other. Each was sparkly and a fountain of good spirit. We helped nurse them to their ends. Now years later their Facebook accounts remind us of their birthdays as though they are alive and well. They are, of course, in our memories. The FB reminder, though, always seems macabre to me.

Other examples come to mind, too. It is good to remember these kind and gentle people. Somehow it doesn’t feel right that their Facebook presence doesn’t register their passing.

Is this a modern form of eternal life? I hope not!

August 28, 2019