I have to share this with my old WinMag friends (and new PC911/PCQ&A friends).
My brother had a son in 1966 - I was 9 years old. Unfortunately, my brother and his wife divorced when 'Paul' was only a year old. She remarried and moved off when Paul was two. That was the last time I saw Paul - 34 years ago.
Paul's birthday is close to mine, so every year on my birthday, I would think of Paul, how old he was, and wondered where he was and what he looked like and if he ever knew he had another family (I thought that the new husband may have adopted him). My brother died at the age of 47 due to complication of having Lupus. I began actively searching for Paul with no avail.
I posted a message on a geneology board in March with Paul's stats requesting anyone to reply if they knew of him. A woman in Canada answered that she did not know him, but showed some birth records. I asked her if she found out anything else to let me know. I never heard from her again.
I was paying bills last night at my desk and someone rang my door bell. It was a young man who had familiar traits and his wife. It was Paul. I of course began to cry (as I am doing now) and invited them in. I showed him pictures, we asked each other questions, it was an incredible reunion. Not only that, he lives 8 miles north of me. The woman from Canada had forwarded my email to Paul's ex-wife (I don't know the details of *that* one). His ex-wife forwarded it to Paul, but he didn't read it for 5 months (it *was* his ex-wife). He read it last Saturday and couldn't call me because my phone is unlisted. He searched tax records and found my address and showed up at my door.
I can't tell you what an incredible feeling this is. It is really surreal - like something from a movie.
If it weren't for the internet and how it pulls us all together in a virtual neighborhood, I may have never seen Paul again. It makes me appreciate all of my friends and acquaintences at the other end of the phone/cable line.
#20. "RE: Something Incredible" In response to Al (Reply # 1)
Priscilla That is an amazing wonderful story. You have me teary eyed and goosebumpy. It is so good to hear this kind of search story. You probably passed him on the street every day but without the net would not have found each other. Much happiness to you and you new found nephew.
Da Dwarfs Earline ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UD Crunching in memory of
That incredible news. Thanks for sharing. Amazing how in this big wide wonderful world, you found each other. The fact that he lives so close is just icing on the cake.
Wow! That is a remarkable story. Your right, like something out of a movie. Life is great when good things like that happen. Thanks for shareing. Im happy for you.
- I had a similar experience with my best freind from college. We hadn't seen each other 15 years, even though we had both tried. he found me on the Internet using a Switchboard search about 2 months after I got my first Internet connection. And he found me on the first try too!
It was great to find out why we couldn't connect, once we compared notes.
my mom grew up in this little village close to the ramstein airforce base in germany. when she was around 10 years old, she babysat for and socialized with this young amercian soldier couple that had several kids and lived in her aunt's house. she became friends with them for several years while they were stationed in germany. eventually they left and moved back to the states. after a few x-mas cards contact was lost.
my mom regretted losing contact with these people, so about 3 or 4 years ago, she started looking online. i don't know the exact details, but eventually she ended up with a list of several dozen people who matched the name and a couple of other tidbits of info. she decided to call each listing, starting at the top. turns out the very first one at the top was the right one. you have no idea how excited my mom was. they talked on the phone a few times, and a few months later my parents came to visit. the couple lived in southern california, and had a camper at a lake outside of fresno, which is about halfway. one weekend we jumped in the car and headed to the campground at the lake, where she met those people again 33 years after their last contact.
they turned out to be a very nice family, very good hearted and friendly folks, and we are all in regular touch now by phone or email.