I have been sitting on a “good news story” that has happened within my family for a little while now and now need to get it out there.
I have a brother, Mitchell, who is three years younger and two sisters, Cate & Sally, six and eleven years younger. Many years ago (25 in fact), there was a family misunderstanding and my brother left home and went to work interstate. Time passed and it became apparent that he no longer wanted anything to do with my Mum & Stepfather and by default his sisters too.
This was agonising for my Mum…her son was out there in the world, 18 years old and on his own. We had a general idea where he was and what he was doing but really knew nothing of his life…this was how he wanted it. My guess is that as years passed, it became harder to resume contact with family…before we knew it, 20 years had passed. I don’t think I wondered about him quite every day but certainly several times a week he was on my mind.
Last year I had a bit of an estrangement with my family, nothing permanent, but I was definitely on the outer for some months. I constantly thought of Mitch, knowing how awfully lonely it was not being able to just pick up the phone and say hello, wondering if how I felt was how he had felt. There was also an inheritance due his way, a gift from our grandparents…I felt he should have what was his entitlement.
Soooo…
I decided to try and find him. I enlisted the help of a cousin, someone Mitchell had grown up with and very much admired. He agreed to be the go-between. I placed a couple of ads on internet billboards and could not believe my luck when I had a response on the very same night I posted. A woman answered my ad and said that he was last living in a small town in South Australia
My cousin Neale took over and did some amazing detective work. He contacted several people from the town, including the publican and general store/post office owner. His concern was taken very much as genuine and these people were very helpful in directing him where to look next. He was also able to make out that these people thought very well of Mitchell and cared for him a great deal.
His search led him to a trucking company in NSW…we had known that Mitch was an interstate truck driver, so this made sense. Neale was able to speak to a supervisor there who eventually let on that Mitchell would be there at 10pm if he wanted to call that night.
Neale called and they spoke for a short while…they then continued to communicate over the next few weeks via phone. Eventually the inevitable rose…”What did Mitchell think about having contact with his Mum..??”
He thought about it and in the interim Mum wrote to him.
A short time passed and then quite out of the blue I get a call from my sister, Sally. Did I know where Mum & John were..?? Mitchell had phoned her, he was in Melbourne
There was little time; Mitchell and his partner were flying out in a few hours. Eventually we tracked them down and the sped off to the airport for the reunion. It was sweet, very sweet…I haven’t heard Mum as happy as she was that night. They have had lots of contact since then and recently Mitchell & his partner came down for the weekend and spent almost all of it with the family, including a night out with Neale & his family.
I spoke to him on the phone, it was good to talk…I hope to catch up in person soon.
Here are a few pics from that weekend…they are just snapshots but such happy ones, too happy not to share…
I’m hoping for a huge family gathering next Christmas…
BTW...is Blogger being a bitch for anyone else this morning...???
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