I sit here at the computer reminiscing about days gone by, as I so often do these days. Thinking back to my childhood. Hot lazy summer days mixed in with a game of baseball, riding bikes, climbing the rocks, or a blanket under a tree. Radio blaring for all the neighbors to hear. An ice cold Mountain Dew......
The thought never crossed my mind that someday we would all go our separate ways and all of these friends and cousins, would no longer be in my everyday life. After all we were inseparable...we were alive and living life to its fullest..and one day at a time.
And then like a vapor...we are all grown..leaving home..starting families of our own. Moving to different cities and towns, and states and countries. Some going to college..some swearing in to Uncle Sam...and life goes on. We work, we make new friends, we have children watch them grow into adults and begin having children of their own...and then before you know what happened..... AAAAHHHH how sweet! THE GOLDEN YEARS!!! Bah Humbug! That's all I got to say about that!
Then all of a sudden out of the 'blue clear sky' (Forest Gump)..We are introduced to this new computer thing called Facebook. Probably been around for quite a while, I am just not real computer literate..so I am a little slow in catching on to these new fangled ways.
But once I got the hang of it, my search was on....and for the first time in many years, I felt like a kid again. I found cousins...1st, 2nd, and 3rd, cousins... cousins of cousins, and cousins that think they are my cousins... and friends...and more friends, old friends, new friends..People that I haven't seen nor heard from in 40 to 50 years...sad to say. I was and am in a sort of a Heaven. I can read what all of these people do on a daily basis.. I love hearing about their children and grandchildren. I love reading what people had for dinner. I love reading about the weather in whatever city or state you live in. I love seeing pictures of what they all look like now, and what they look like in my memory. Above all it is one of the best prayer chains I have ever seen... If you or someone you love needs prayer.. just post it on Facebook! Even though I know that some people give Facebook/computer a lot of slack.. I have to say that I Thank the Good Lord for such an invention. I love hearing from all of my friends and family. I am so thankful that I am able to keep in contact with those that are dear to my heart.
This past week I have been blessed by finding two 'ole' friends that I played with and hung around with when I was a kid through out my teenage years. Gloria Combs ....and Patricia Huffman. Gloria's father was a minister at the Assembly of God church and lived next door to my mom and dad. We used to hang out together a lot after school and in the summer months...ran all over that little small southeast Missouri town. She was a christian girl, and probably helped to keep me on the straight and narrow in those young years. I will forever be grateful to her for her influence on me. Gloria and I played a lot of baseball with the neighborhood kids. Went to a lot of youth rallies at church.. and we like to camp out in her back yard. HA! Another quilt over the clothesline story. Only her brother scared the begebeeis out of us one night and I don't know if we ever camped out again after that.. a very precious memory!
Patricia, (aka Patty now) I have wondered for years where she was, and what she was doing. If she was well and happy, and hoping and praying that someday our paths would cross again. Pat used to live 2 doors down from my oldest sister, in another small Missouri town. Anytime I went to visit my sister, whether it was for and hour or a week, I would always head over to Pat's house.. my brother in law would sometimes load all of us kids up in the car and take us swimming to a creek outside of town. Probably about 10 kids, no seat belts, no life jackets, no sunscreen! Just plain ole summer fun. The one real memory I have of Pat and me is laying on a blanket under a tree in her front yard. Radio blaring to the tune of 'Yummy, Yummy, Yummy, I Got Love in my Tummy". Talking about what young fellow we thought was cute and who we wanted to marry someday. I am so very thankful to finally find her again. The irony in it is that she now lives right outside of my home town. The world is so large, yet so small. I am thinking a reunion will be in the near future!
From the very first day I became a Facebook member I began my search for these two women. Literally several times a month I would type in their names and hope I would get a lead... it finally came.. through other peoples pages... that led me to them... I know that some may think I am too nostalgic, too sentimental, too emotional, but I don't care. I will forever be grateful that I have reconnected with these two and so many others. I just wish I could have a huge reunion and have all of my 'friends' show up! Wouldn't that be a hoot!
I know this is not really a story.. but just my thoughts.. but something I just wanted to share.. so to all that read this.. family, friends, old and new... I love you and I am glad that we are friends!
