There it was – some noise as I lay in bed at 8 a.m. What was that? Oh…it was my cell phone stuffed in my pants pocket. Grabbed it just in time to see that the call was from area code 405 – Oklahoma, but too late to answer the call
It was Gladys and I missed the call!
She left a message as I stumbled out of bed to start another day. Before I could get that feeling out of my mouth and head, the house phone rang and my wife said “somebody named Jones.” I of course knew that it was Gladys not giving up in reaching me.
Thank goodness she didn’t. It has been over 40 years since we had seen or talked to one another.
Just so you get the flavor of history, Gladys was like my grandmother’s adopted daughter in Pauls Valley, OK. When I was a little kid (in elementary school), Gladys was like an older sister, and my grandmother would have her babysit my sister, brother and I. This woman was like a star singer in church, and sang in churches all around Pauls Valley. I have many memories of sitting in church (yes, kids set through church back then) and listening to her sing.
We had an absolutely amazing time talking about how we have been trying to find one another. At one time, she and her husband were even Pastoring in a church in Richmond – I just happen to find that 2-3 years ago on the internet. From Richmond, they moved to Carson, CA, and I could just never seem to make connection.
Even when we were in Oklahoma for a reunion in 2005, we tried to find anyone in Pauls Valley who knew anyone that I remembered, all to no avail.
- How Did We Connect Now?
While working on the move of my blog, there was a post about Bethlehem Baptist Church in Pauls Valley, and I wanted to test the link, and got to their website. Found that there was a new pastor, and that the history of the church was still posted. While re-reading the history, saw Gladys’ name, and started searching the internet again, but wasn’t able to find anything (not even the link that mentioned her in Richmond).
Went back to the Bethlehem Baptist website and saw that there were Newsletters. Started reading, and was surprised to find Gladys’ name listed as one of the “Mothers” of the church on the list of people who were presently serving (Deacons, Ushers, etc.). Okay, that meant she was alive and must be living in Pauls Valley. Found a link for Pastor Eaton with a FaceBook address, and fired off an email to him. Asked him that if Gladys was indeed in Pauls Valley, would you please let her know that an old friend was looking for her, and gave him my phone numbers to pass on.
So, there it is in a nutshell. This has been a fantastic day! Gladys had tried to find me, but been stymied, and was so glad to connect. We spent 20-30 minutes on the phone going over (as best we could) the last 40+ years of our lives. Her kids and grand kids have done well. In fact, one of the grandkids plays for the Indianapolis Colts (after attending Stanford).
Can’t wait as we begin sharing pictures and family information back and forth. So thankful that this time, I persisted in trying to find and contact her. There’s a lot of family history to catch up on, so I’m sure we will be spending a lot of time on the phone and sending pictures back and forth.
What a way to begin a day!