Do you live alone?  Are you finding it tough to make new friends after relocating to a new area?  Perhaps you've lost your job or your partner or your kids have left for college?  Many life transitions can leave us feeling socially disconnected and lonely.

Well, this website is for you!

Here's my story...

Nearing my mid-life crisis, buying a sports car was just too easy. So, I packed my bags and my two cats and moved from Washington, DC to Little Canada, Minnesota.  Two more different places, I can't imagine!  Though Little Canada sounds exotic, it was just another Twin Cities suburb, complete with a water tower, an A&W Drive-In and a few trailer parks.  

Pictured to the right is one of the reasons I moved to Minnesota  After my move, I spent four years living on one of its 10,000 lakes.  Our lakes are frozen six months of the year which makes for amazing winter sunrises.  However, because I didn't have a social network, I felt like Thoreau on Walden Pond!     

Though I was born in Minnesota, I didn't have a home team advantage in building a social life here.  Building social connections from the ground up as a single person took a lot of time and patience.  It could be my age, 6 months of winter's hibernation, or that Minnesotans are very fortunate to have vast circles of friends dating back to pre-school.  I think it's a three-way tie.  

So I started reading about social connections and attended a talk by Dr. Jacqueline Olds, author of a book called The Lonely American.   Dr. Olds proposes that due to television and cultural changes, social isolation is on the rise in our society, with a dire potential impact on our physical and mental health. 

I commited to Minnesota through buying a home in fall 2010.  I've intentionally worked to build community with my neighbors.  One neighborly connection enabled me to help save the life of someone who lives alone.  That's when it really hit me!  All of us should have a Plan B Connection!  We all need someone watching out for us - someone who has us on their radar - especially the elderly who live alone.  We Baby Boomers are staring down our sunset years as well - we need to plan ahead for that. 

That's my mission - to link individuals seeking friendship and community through meaningful social connections.  This is the project of a lifetime!  

May your life be filled with meaningful social connections!

Lisa Cook

Join our Plan B Connections groups on Facebook or LinkedIn!
Updated June 2013