An Out-of-this-World Connection

Recently, I decided to join the career-networking site, LinkedIn. I realize that I am probably the last person on Earth to do so, but hey – better late than never, right?

Because I am so new to the site, I am frequently emailed with suggestions of people with whom I may wish to connect. The faces are almost always familiar ones and follow a typical style: a professional-looking-yet-approachable photo, full name, and current impressive-sounding job title.

As I was reviewing the latest suggestions of people, I was shocked to find one that was different from all of the rest. There was no photo, no job title, and no current position. Just an odd gray head-shaped placeholder where a photo should go and a very familiar but unexpected name: William Kern.

The only William Kern I know, my father-in-law, died in May.

At first I thought that it must be some weird coincidence, that someone else must share his name. Then I saw the unusual email address and knew without a doubt that it was my father-in-law. It was Pop.

Several years ago, Pop wanted to be able to get online. Always an avid fisherman, he wanted Internet access so that he could research fishing, but he didn’t want to buy – or have to learn - a computer. At the time, there was this gadget called WebTV that could be hooked up to a television and a phone line so that you could send and receive email as well as surf the Internet right on your TV.

The dial-up connection was lousy and unpredictable, and you could only view text-based websites. Still, Pop loved his WebTV. He would spend hours reading fishing statistics, looking for information on where to fish, and hunting down gear that he wanted to buy. In fact, he used it so often that we could rarely reach him by telephone because his phone line was always connected to the WebTV.

WebTV also provided an escape from the loneliness he felt after his wife died. When he moved in with the woman who would become his second wife, he tried to bring the unit with him, but she wouldn’t allow it in her house. Her refusal abruptly halted Pop’s time on the Internet. The unit was discarded, the monthly fee for his Internet service was cancelled, and his email address was abandoned.

The last time Pop used WebTV was seven years ago, so how did he show up on LinkedIn? LinkedIn was probably not in existence back when Pop used WebTV, but even if it was, I am 100% positive that he was NOT a member. He was a self-employed carpenter for his entire life and not at all technology-savvy. No way would he have joined a professional networking site even if he could have.

After staring at the computer in disbelief for several minutes, I did the only thing that felt right in that moment.

I clicked the “Connect” button under his name.