Lost and found then lost and FINALLY found

My birthday cake

Growing up, I had a very good friend who I will call PM. Shortly after high school, she left the state, got married, had a baby and returned to Michigan. The baby will be 40 this summer. We kept in touch for about a year but then she left the state, then the country, and who knows where she was?

About 10 years ago, she went looking for me at my parent's. Steve and I flew down to Florida to meet with her and her then husband before and after a cruise. We had a great time reconnecting and kept in touch over the next few years with long phone calls late into the night. But one day I went to call her and both her cellphone and home phone were disconnected. WTF? Was she still alive? Why didn't she contact me?

She has a very common name as did her various husbands. I thought that she may have moved to SC to be with her son and her sister, who had married someone from my high school. Just last week I was poring over my brother's yearbook to see if I could recognize the boy who would be my friend's brother in-law.(Turns out I should have been searching my own yearbook, he was closer in age to me than my brother). He has an uncommon name but I just couldn't remember it. I went to the HS reunion last summer hoping to find someone who had contact with her. No dice though I did spend the time with her other best friend (who will be happy to hear of my progress).

Last January, I decided to look for her sons. One has a name way too common but the other I found had many details indicating that he might be her son. I sent him a letter not knowing if the address I had was valid. I gave my phone numbers and begged him to share them with his mom. I heard nada. Oh well, maybe it wasn't the right address or he didn't feel like being a messenger or maybe she didn't want contact, who knows, so I gave up.

One thing I don't do, to the chagrin of some of my friends, is text. Yet I keep receiving these things though I don't open them. Last week while in NY, I was scrolling through them before deleting them all and I noticed one from her...way back in January.

I called her as soon as it was late enough to be decent. No answer. I texted (with Naomi's help) No answer. I called later in the week when I got back to Michigan. Nada. But today, she finally answered her phone so I have a friend again.

This BTW is not the present I was referring to in yesterday's blog though it is a very good present.
Presence not presents...this is what I want and what I got and will get. Bonus: Another good friend will be here in June.

Also, the present isn't another grandbaby though that would be nice. But presence...that's all I can wish for but I can't go into detail publicly yet. Some things are not set.

Yesterday was nice. It was my 59th birthday which sounds impossibly old. I did not turn 60 yet though I did by Eastern reckoning Steve, Shanna, Tessa and I went out for a nice lunch (though Tessa slept through it all). Later we all convened at Josh's. Julia was out of town and Josh does not cook. So Steve sort of catered our dinner and it was fine. All my babies and grandbabies together..what else could one want? And a good friend dropped by to visit us all with presence and presents especially appreciated by the older kids.

The 2 grandgirls. Hard to believe that Maya was smalle than Tess

Tess sort of smiling

Maya kissing the baby

Hard to keep 4 kids in one place for more than a minute