Reconnecting

About two weeks ago my aunt and uncle were in Des Moines. Jeff and I had dinner with them and spent two nights playing games and enjoying their company. On the last evening they were here, my uncle mentioned an old friend that he had just gotten back in contact with. He said that there was another old friend he was looking for and hadn't had a lot of luck finding. So I offered to help him look.

I have access to some great public records databases and can find a lot people information without a ton of effort. So I started doing some digging to find his friend. It took me less than an hour to find his friend and to confirm that it was the man he was looking for. I had found an old email address, a current phone number, and a current address. I sent it over to my uncle to do with as he would like. He tried the email and it bounced back so he cold-called. And after a couple uncomfortable minutes, the two friends were talking. My uncle sent him some pictures and figured that was that.

He emailed me this morning to tell me that he'd gotten a letter from his old friend. It was an in depth letter describing the friend's life and talking about his family. And then this friend dropped a bombshell. The man was dying. He had about a year or so left to live. When I read that in my uncle's email I was shaken. I was so sad for this man, who is on the edge of death. But I was also happy that my uncle had reconnected at this point. That it wasn't too late for him to say that he was thinking of this man. I was happy he would have a chance to say goodbye. If he had waited a year, my uncle would never have gotten to say anything.

So today I've been thinking about all the people I've lost contact with. All the friends that I've let drift away. I'm suddenly interested in getting in touch with them. Of telling them how much their friendship meant to me, even if it never rekindles. Because you never know when it will be too late. I'm both happy and sad I could help my uncle. But more than anything it has made me think.