Reconnecting with loved ones

Reconnecting with loved ones..

Sometimes things happen, time changes, people move away, lives change and somehow you lose touch with people you love.

Over the years you think of them often, wondering where they are and how they are doing, wishing you could reconnect with them.

But sometimes the pain they caused you is too great and it is better to leave that door closed for your own well being.

We are blessed to live in this age of technology where we can at a touch of a button, look up people we have been thinking of. I have always been blessed with a lot of friends but all during my marriage I was cut off from almost all of them. When I got separated I finally got on Facebook and started to look them up and was so thrilled to find so many wonderful friends I had growing up.

I even found my first best friend, Mary, who moved away when we were twelve. For years I searched for her, and who knew she moved to the next town over from me? Now here 35 years later, I found her cousin on Facebook and we reconnected, it was incredible, we talk every week now!

But one of the best reconnections was with my cousin Carol, she was five years younger than me, and she was my shadow. I was an only child and when she came along, she became the little sister I never had. I taught her to ride a bike, to swim, to stand up and be tough. 

We would sing into our hair brushes while listening to Captain and Tenille and Barry Mantalow

(You are all laughing now too because you remember doing the same thing and are too embarrassed to say it! Or this is a dinosaur reference, it's one or the other)

My friends would say why is she here? I would say 'cause she's my sister, she was part of my crew like it or not, I didn't have to bring her, I wanted to bring her with me.

We would sit up late into the night, telling each other our dreams, our fears, our goals. We told each other our secrets, we cried in each other's arms. 

We stuck up for each other, got beatings for each other, but no matter what, we never would rat the other out. I even got arrested for picking her up after she ran away to another state. It didn't matter, she needed me and I was there for her.

I would do anything for this girl, she was my life, my blood, my little sister. 

She had a sister that was my age, but she never appreciated her. She was jealous and mean spirited and was constantly trying to get her in trouble. But not us, we were peanut butter and jelly, peas and rice, we were spaghetti and meatballs, we went together everywhere, and we were always a pair. 

She had a rough life and when she was 17 she met this boy, she thought this would be her ticket out. She married him, had a baby and moved to his country, leaving her family, her friends and me behind.

The miles and some misunderstandings made the years fly by. I kept looking for her, I Google her, I searched Facebook, I asked everyone I knew, that knew her but nothing. 

So you're thinking why didn't you just call her sister? Duh! I did but as I said she was a bitter, petty person then and she had not changed, and she wouldn't give me any information just to be spiteful.

When my marriage was falling apart and my mother passed away, I was in a state of depression, that is when you know God is good because my phone rang and yup it was her!

Out of the blue she tracked me down and said I was on her mind.

You couldn't imagine my joy to have found her again, even all those years felt like minutes. It was as if we talked yesterday, and yes, we have talked every week since. 

It feels like part of my heart has been returned to me, I am whole again, I have my best friend, my little sister back, I cannot tell you how grateful I am.

So today my friends I am telling you these stories because especially after the year we had, we realize that life is too short.

We may not have the time we thought we did, in a flick of a second it could be over and you would have missed your chance to reconnect with that person.

If they mean that much to you, then a petty argument can get over but never speaking to them again, can't. So don't ever give up hope, keep looking, keep searching for that person that holds a part of your heart, it is so worth it! Reconnect today!

"Be the change you want to see"

@Treadmilltreats