I had an Oprah moment tonight! One of the largest voids and mysteries of my life was fulfilled. Thought I would share this happy romance story with those closest to me.
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During the summer of 1996 to summer 1997 I was traveling from college in Lincoln to visit this girl in Red Cloud. We wrote often and made plans for her to move to Lincoln to live with me. Suddenly the letters stopped. I waited a few months and then went looking for her at the end of the semester.
I knew her mom was hiding from an abusive spouse/boyfriend so I assumed they were on the run. Neighbors confirmed that they packed in the middle of the night and vanished.
I waited a few weeks, expecting to get a letter once they were settled. As time went by, I started to think maybe she lost my information in the rush. This was before cell phones etc. when we most relied on paper address books/journals.
I started calling families in the area with the same name, posting flyers, classified ads and following leads in the surrounding 100 mile area plus the Tucson AZ area where she mentioned a grandma in one of her letters. Always hitting dead ends.
As the internet tools became available, I searched for her aliases every single month for the next 14+ years, always hitting a dead end!
Tonight at approximately 11pm, FACEBOOK sent me the following letter from a girl using a different first name….
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“Once upon a time, 14 years ago, you rode your bike getting caught in a rain storm on your way home, is it coincidence that this this same girl still keeps your photos in her closet. Tonight I went through my past… And remembered the amazing experiences I feel we shared. Curiosity killed me and on to Facebook I went… where I found the man who stemmed from the boy I was once crazy about. Not trying to disrupt your life by any means. However, if you remember me, maybe we can make memories.. -TC
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After all these years of living with a void in my heart and the worry of what really happened to her, I picked up the phone and we got reunited.
It turned out that she was beaten and put in a traumatized coma and her mom didn’t find my contact info to let me know. I tried not to demand answers and instead just listened to why she thought it was best to let me go. They moved to Arizona and she was convinced the long distant relation would not work plus she was traumatized psychologically so she never tried to reach me again until tonight.
Why tonight, after all these years, I asked?
She replied that she looks at my letters and pictures from time to time but thinks that after having a kid, then a second and a third and being married and then divorced that it would ruin the fantasy of my past role as the motorcycle hero riding into her life. Finally, she was telling our story to a friend and the friend convinced her she was crazy for never reaching out….so she finally looked me up and said hello!
I thought you would all enjoy hearing a happy fantasy story turned true so here ya have it.
While it is too early to judge, I will just say for now, that I will fly through Denver on my way back from L.A. and spend a weekend with her to see how things go.
So happy to close the unsolved mystery after all these years!
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