Wednesday, July 25, 2007

One is Silver and the Other Gold

I had something very exciting happen to me yesterday.

Let me start at the beginning. I grew up attending church camp through the Presbyterian church and Mission Presbytery. I went through three camps...John Knox Ranch near Wimberly, Tx, Mo-Ranch in Hunt, Tx and Summer Place in Port Aransas, Tx. During one of my camp times, I met a girl from Pleasanton, Tx. She was a lot of fun and beautiful and people were just drawn to her. We became fast friends. She visited me in Uvalde, I her in Pleasanton and of course we saw each other at camp every year, sometimes twice a year. We stayed great friends for years.

Slowly, as we got older and more involved, we grew apart and eventually had no contact with each other. There was no falling out. There was no parting ways. Life just happened.

Often over the years I have thought of her. She would pop into my mind at random times...during weddings, births of babies, deaths of loved ones. During those significant moments I know she too was probably experiencing. I wished many times I could share some of those moments with her. Alas, it was not to be, and life continued. I pictured running into her in an antique store in 30 years when we were both grandmothers.

This summer, with a bit more time on my hands, I began investigating to see if I could track "N" down. I knew where she was from, so I got online and googled her name. Nothing significant came back. She has a very unique name and I was sure there weren't many of them around, however nothing that helped came back. That was about a month ago.

So, yesterday I was looking up another friend's wedding website at The Knot. I was curious and thought I would see if ours was still listed from 5 years ago. To my shock, it was. So, I thought I would play a little more and see if I could find other people I know. Again, "N" came to my mind...just popped in unannounced. I quickly typed her name into The Knot's website finder. Much to my sheer delight and amazement...there she was!!! She was married only a few months before I was and now I had a new last name to Google.

With the new information, I was able to locate her. Low and behold, she lives in Pleasanton again and is a teacher! So, I found her email address on the school website and sent her a note. I wasn't expecting a quick reply because it is summer and wasn't sure if she would get it until school started again. Later last night I checked my email (for the 3rd time) and there was a message from her. It was such a happy moment for me. I have been thinking about "N" for so long and wondering how she was and now I could "talk" to her.

Here is a little excerpt from the emails:

I write:
I don't really know where to start this email.
If this is N.T., which I can't
imagine it is not, I am typing this as my heart
beats almost out of my chest! I have thought about
you so many times over the last years and wondered
how and what you were doing. I have
even searched your name on the internet,
but didn't know if you were married with a new
last name or what. How are you? Do you have
any kids? How are your parents? What do you teach?
I would love to hear from you and catch up!

"N" replies:

I can not believe this! I have thought
about you the same way. Every now and then I
find myself wondering what you are doing and where you
might be. Especially when talks of summer camp
comes up. My family takes a vacation every year to
Port Aransas
and I always have to reminisce back to
Summer Place. Wow, so much has happened in such
a short amount of time it seems...
I hope to hear back
from you. I am so glad that you found me!!
So, I am looking forward to reestablishing this friendship and seeing where it takes us.

"Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other gold."

6 comments:

  1. Love it! I have a story about trying to reconnect with an old friend, but with a different outcome. I'll email you about it because it was so weird. Miss you, sister.

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  2. Ohh that gives me goosebumps.....Awesome!

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  3. I was a life guard at Summer Place in 1980 and 1981, what years were you there?

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  4. I was a life guard at Summer Place in 1980 and 1981, what years were you there?

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  5. Paul Wright, I would have been there more like early 90's. Sure miss that place!

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