I accidentally emailed a stranger 10 years ago. He has been invited to family celebrations ever since | Emma Wilkins

The delight of ‘meeting’ a person from a different country and time zone is one of the wonders of the internet. Perhaps one day we will host a party in his honour

One of the many people my husband’s clan and I invite to family celebrations isn’t related to us by blood or marriage. He isn’t dating one of us, he hasn’t met any of us, and none of us – were he to attend – would know his face. But from time to time he gets an invite to a birthday of someone he has never met and is asked to bring a plate.

He has never come, but he always responds with excitement and warmth. He’s not technically “one of us”, but he shares a surname with some of us and over years earned himself the ultimate sign of group acceptance: a nickname.

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/Sm3xKri