A Thankful Story, Continued

Read the beginning here.

It’s quite humbling to think about how we become acquainted with people who leave a mark, an imprint if you will, in our lives. I don’t think it’s happenstance or consequence that we meet others in that type of scenario, there’s definitely a bigger plan out there. There’s something that John Edward always says at the end of his shows, “Take time to communicate, appreciate and validate” loved ones in our lives, and I really think that’s important.

I had a tough time when I was in California. I won’t go into it (mainly because this is such an open forum), but needless to say, it was not something I really wish to revisit or hash out. If you’ve seen Single White Female, that’s all I’m saying. Due to these circumstances, and a few beyond my control, I lost touch with my dear Italian friend, R.N.

When I was compiling wedding invitations, I searched to find her address and found nothing in my entries under N. Hoping I had misfiled it, I searched under R too, to no avail. I could remember her mother’s name, Ana, but not her father’s. I had just affectionately named him Papino, just like R. had in my company.

Over the years, she would pop into my mind quite frequently and I would ache to just find her. After Ian was born, I tried again in vain to search for her online with no success. I never gave up hope of finally locating her, but my zealousness to continue searching (in vain) diminished. Again, when Cameron was born, I went looking for her. Anything for some glimmer of hope.

On 5th September 2007, I was sitting in the basement of my mother-in-law’s home (we went down for a visit with the boys, stopping off at Yellowstone first, for a few days) watching Ian play with cars and glancing up now-and-then to check Cameron wasn’t getting into anything he shouldn’t have been. I was sitting on a rocker, mindlessly going through my e-mails, when R. popped into my head. I nonchalantly pulled up Goggle and typed in her name. There was one complete match, but I had to check it out. I went to the website, clicked on member profiles and typed in her first name. There was seven others with the same name, good odds, I thought. I checked through the profiles, sometimes with only an age to go by. I sat and tried to remember how old she was and it was killing me that I couldn’t recall it. I knew she was younger than I, I just couldn’t remember by how much.

It had to be more than sheer luck that the website asked in the profiles which languages each member could speak fluently in. I had four names to go and clicked on the next one. And there it was: Italian, English, French and Spanish. I knew she could speak fluent Spanish because it’s her mother’s native tongue. I also knew she studied French in High School, and her sister taught her English.

I had to be sure, so I checked the final two underneath.

On a whim, and a lot of hope, I blind e-mailed her, short and sweet, nothing too revealing. (I didn’t want to shame myself in case it wasn’t her.)

Are you R.N.?

The next day, I received my response that I had been waiting on for almost 8 years. And let me tell you, eight years is a very long time.

Yes I am R.N. and you are???

I sat and quietly sobbed. I had found my friend and it was almost too difficult to believe. The years rushed away as I sat and stared at her response, knowing I had finally put an end to the mystery. I decided right there that I would never lose her again.

After I responded, she wrote back, elated as I was, and made a comment that emotively portrayed how I had felt.

HELLO!!! I am very very very happy to get your email!! I have been thinking about you a lot in all this time and was always wondering where you were. I don’t even know where to start…..too many things to ask you and to tell you… Well first of all I am too excited to get your email, it was a real shame we lost contact but I kept you in a corner of my heart the whole time!

For all the things I appreciate that 2007 has brought me, this certainly is at the top of the list. I am very grateful that I never gave up hope, but especially blessed that I can now share my life with her instantaneously in real time through Instant Messenger.