IT IS A small WORLD
It was 1996 when I got my first computer and it didn't take me long to discover the internet. Like a tadpole drawn to a pond, I was drawn to chat rooms and the ability to socialize with people from all around the world. Doing this at any hour of the day from the comfort of my own home was an added bonus. The first couple of people I became friends with were Sylvie from DC and Jen from MI. The three of us were a force to be reckoned with while chatting on the short-lived ISP called WOW!
We really hit it off and decided after a few months of online girl time to meet in person, so we did for a long weekend at Sylvie's. This was a real stretch for the conservative and always cautious daughter of an American ambassador, but she was a gracious hostess and was a helluva lotta fun for someone who was raised in such an affluent lifestyle.
Jen and I were true salt-of-the-earth kind of girls, but Sylvie soon proved to be a well-grounded individual. The three of us were as different as could be from one another, each having different perspectives, different backgrounds, different issues that we faced in our personal lives. Something brought us together and what an enjoyable time we had over those few days.
We lived online while we were there... each taking turns at the keyboard, chatting with the folks we normally chatted with while at home. On occasion, we'd let the 'net take a rest and we'd spend time just the three of us, no outsiders allowed. We took a quick trip into the district to visit the White House for a photo op and we had lunch at the Hotel Washington.
The weekend passed quickly and many laughs had been shared. Once life returned to normal and we were all back behind our own keyboards, Jen disappeared. Sylvie and I had made countless attempts to find the wandering Jen but to no avail. She was gone, she became a memory. All we had left of her were pictures of her with a tinfoil crown because she was our technical queen. She was a talented young woman with a lot of baggage and we would worry about her for a long time, hoping that she was making sound decisions. We wondered, and wondered.
The wondering came to a halt on Friday because Jen was found... years after the search had ended. I was attending a class at a scrapbook convention in Jacksonville when I saw this woman who looked incredibly familiar. I searched my memory banks, trying to determine why her face looked so familiar then it dawned on me, she was Jen! I got her attention to ask her a few pointed questions that would help jog her memory of me and it worked. We spent a quick few moments catching up on each other's lives and departed in amazement that we'd met again after all those years. Jen is happier than I could have ever imagined, married with two kids and living in Florida. I was and am still in awe that our paths crossed. It's truly fascinating how small the world can be sometimes.
We really hit it off and decided after a few months of online girl time to meet in person, so we did for a long weekend at Sylvie's. This was a real stretch for the conservative and always cautious daughter of an American ambassador, but she was a gracious hostess and was a helluva lotta fun for someone who was raised in such an affluent lifestyle.
Jen and I were true salt-of-the-earth kind of girls, but Sylvie soon proved to be a well-grounded individual. The three of us were as different as could be from one another, each having different perspectives, different backgrounds, different issues that we faced in our personal lives. Something brought us together and what an enjoyable time we had over those few days.
We lived online while we were there... each taking turns at the keyboard, chatting with the folks we normally chatted with while at home. On occasion, we'd let the 'net take a rest and we'd spend time just the three of us, no outsiders allowed. We took a quick trip into the district to visit the White House for a photo op and we had lunch at the Hotel Washington.
The weekend passed quickly and many laughs had been shared. Once life returned to normal and we were all back behind our own keyboards, Jen disappeared. Sylvie and I had made countless attempts to find the wandering Jen but to no avail. She was gone, she became a memory. All we had left of her were pictures of her with a tinfoil crown because she was our technical queen. She was a talented young woman with a lot of baggage and we would worry about her for a long time, hoping that she was making sound decisions. We wondered, and wondered.
The wondering came to a halt on Friday because Jen was found... years after the search had ended. I was attending a class at a scrapbook convention in Jacksonville when I saw this woman who looked incredibly familiar. I searched my memory banks, trying to determine why her face looked so familiar then it dawned on me, she was Jen! I got her attention to ask her a few pointed questions that would help jog her memory of me and it worked. We spent a quick few moments catching up on each other's lives and departed in amazement that we'd met again after all those years. Jen is happier than I could have ever imagined, married with two kids and living in Florida. I was and am still in awe that our paths crossed. It's truly fascinating how small the world can be sometimes.
posted by Juli at 4:17 PM
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