Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Tuesday's Tribute..It's Time To Give Back


Something has happened. Something I have not shared with anyone but my husband. This is such a blessing to me . It brings tears to me each and every time I let myself think about how excited I am about this. I hope you enjoy this story as much as I do...and as much as I am.
Yep Today I am thankful for Facebook. Let me share something wonderful with you that has happened through me signing up for my facebook account.

One day a few weeks ago I was not feeling too well over the weekend and logged on line and decided to join facebook. I found a few people and logged off and did not go back for a week or so. The next weekend came around and I spent most of time laying around trying to recover from the dreaded treatment. So as I messed around online I logged in on my facebook and started searching.

All of the sudden I put in the name Joey and his last name and there he was. I knew it was him right away. He had the same face , the same eyes, the same smile and I just knew that was Joey. All these years later and there was the same kid I loved to play with but he was a adult holding a one day old baby. My second cousin. Wow. What a rush of feelings.
So I decided to try to add him as a friend and waited. I have to admit I was really a little nervous about if he would accept me...or even worse know who I was. A little while later the IM screen popped up and there he was. So I said...do you have a dad name David and a mom name Brenda? He said yes...I said I am your cousin.

From that moment on I found apart of my life that I thought was forever gone. The story behind the story is...when Joey and I were younger we played all the time. Our families lived near each other and we were buddies. I loved having Joey around.

The reason Joey and I lost contact is because we both come from families that we KNOW are dysfunctional. What I mean by that is...My Dad and His Dad came from a family of 8 and there family is not what I would call the normal happy family. In fact there are some serious problems. None of the 8 seem to talk and family does not seem to mean to them what it does to myself.

My dad and Joey's dad got in a argument and it was not pretty. And due to that we never saw them again. I lost contact with Joey who was maybe 5 at the time and I was 7. Maybe for our dads it was not that big of a deal but for me it was a big deal. I always wondered what happened to Joey and his brother Bubba, my younger cousin. Bubba does not remember me , he was too young.

And I also missed my Uncle David and Aunt Brenda. To me the were so cool and I loved having them in my life. Then one day it all ended and that never changed until the one day I logged on to Facebook.

When I spoke to Joey I told him how excited I was to talk with him and I knew he was younger when he knew me but I had adored him and had hunted him down. He seemed as excited to be talking to me as I was him. I sat there and I a little more whole . I found a missing piece of my childhood and had brought it in as a adult.

Then Joey mentioned some personal issues in his life . It opened us up to be able to talk about " dad's" family history and how we knew we had to as parents break the cycle. It was so nice to be able to share our story with each other. And the best part was He got it cause he is my family.

I told him that I had been really hurt cause My dad lives 5 miles up the street and we have no contact. But that was his choice and I think it is for the best. I have beat my head on a wall for years with that issue and my heart is hurt my my mind knows it is for the best.

Then a few days later he told me he had told my Uncle David that I was sick how sorry he was. He said that my Uncle David sent me his love. That was so special to hear. Like I said I always thought such great thoughts about my Uncle David and Aunt Brenda. And even as a grown adult it was so comforting to know he cared. I am still that little girl sometimes...

Here is a little something from Joey to me..
Hey right back at ya! You're dead wrong! It means so much that you got in touch with me!!!! I always kept you near to my heart as my favorite person, much less favorite relative! I remember you very vividly. And I would be honored to have you put this on your blog. Feel free to use my name. I am so proud to be your cousin. I only wish this all could have happened a long time ago. You have no idea how excited I've been Amy, since I found out this was you! I've been telling everyone!

So you see for me...I sit here with happy tears. I have no family on my dad's side at all..and now I have found my cousin and he has a sweet little baby boy. I am so very blessed. I have my little cousin back and I am thrilled.
I am thankful that Facebook makes things like this possible.

13 comments:

Aspiemom said...

That is such a NEAT story, Amy! I am so glad that you have found each other again!

Mari said...

What a great story. I'm so happy for you!

Charmaine said...

What a great story! How wonderful for you both to find each other. God does work in mysterious ways.

April said...

Oh, Amy...that story gave me goosebumps! You can't tell me that God didn't have His hand in bringing you two together. How awesome! Let the reunion begin!!!

bluesuede said...

Amy, I'm so glad you found your cousin. I'm also sorry for your relationship with your dad. It makes me feel guilty for the "Leave It To Beaver" family I grew up in. I guess when I was young I just thought everybody's family was like ours until I got older and found out that so many of my friends had wished that my family was their family. It makes me proud to know, but also very humbled at the same time.

ixtapacheryl said...

How wonderful for you! I'm so glad you found him and now to discover he has a little one and is happily married. Any plans for them to visit?

Who knows maybe this reunion will also bring your dad and his dad back together. Time is so short and maybe they will have a change of heart.

Vickie said...

Amy..I loved reading your story of reuniting with your cousin! I recently was reunited with a dear old friend that I had lost contact with many years ago. She found me through my son's MySpace page. It was so great!

Shannon said...

How cool is that! What a great facebook story! Gee, you didn't even add the part about me being on facebook and how awesome that is.
(hmm..my husband says somthing about me being self-centered but i just don't know what he's talking about).

Unknown said...

what a great story! thnking of you and hoping you are feeling better... xoxox

Prudentia said...

You've got one very lucky cousin, Amy (hugs)

Michelle Riggs said...

I love this story. How wonderful that God brought the two of you back together.

Your story made my day. Thanks for sharing it.

oh and we would LOVE to see you when Abby is better. Florida is Abby's Make a Wish~wish.

Amy said...

That is awesome! I have heard several stories about people finding lost love, family and friends on Facebook.

I need to change my name back to my maiden name on Facebook and see who finds me.

misty said...

This is a very cool story, Amy! So happy for you and so great to find each other again!