Friday, February 4, 2022

Reunited 30 Years Later

 Have I ever told you the story of how this blog helped me connect with a long lost cousin?

When my family moved from Jamaica to the United States in 1988, we left quickly and didn't say goodbye to a lot of people. I was 14 years old, and I was so overwhelmed with the move and culture shock that I didn't consider the people we had left behind.  

My cousin, Susan, would later tell me that one day we were just...poof...gone, and no one had a way to get in touch with us! Looking back now, it seemed all so strange, but I wasn't old enough to realize that we had abandoned the people who really mattered to us. 

Fast forward three decades. Susan told me that she and her brother would do a random internet search here and there to try and find us. Then one day, a breakthrough.  They came across my blog on the internet!

A couple of emails were exchanged. Many phone calls followed to "catch up," and then, finally, a happy reunion in Florida...thirty years after I left Jamaica. As fate would have it, Susan lives just a short distance from my mother-in-law, so I get to see her every time I visit.    

Family is so important. She's my dad's niece and my only real connection to him, now that he's gone. She's really special, and I'm so glad we found each other again. She's "good people." She has an infectious laugh, a heart of gold, and I'm truly blessed to have her in my life. Again.

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