My father died in 1959 and about a year later his mother passed away. As often happens in situations like these our families drifted apart. My mother remarried, and went about starting our new life. I never really knew my father’s family except for one of his brothers who married my mother’s sister. Unfortunately he too died at a young age a few years after my father passed.
As the years passed we grew up and went about our lives. There was but only the occasional mention of that life and those that we left behind. I have always had a yearning to know more about my father and that side of our family which I never knew. But, as often happens, we go through our lives consumed by the demands of work, raising our families and all the things in between, there’s only time for the present. Sadly with each passing tick of the clock that is our lives, the past grows dimmer and farther away. But by some stroke of fate, a window to the past was opened a few days ago……..We were on a mini vacation for a few days and since my Mom’s birthday was coming up we joined her and my sister Peggy for lunch on Sunday. As part of casual conversation, my sister mentioned to me that a lady who said she was our father’s sister had called and left her a message stating that she wanted to talk to her. I thought it a little strange and simply told her to make sure she really knew who she was talking to and to be careful. As we finished our lunch and eventually said our goodbyes, Joyce and I headed out to complete the last leg of our trip by visiting her sister in Beckley WV.
Later that evening I got a call from my sister and she excitedly began telling me that she had returned the phone call she had received earlier and it was indeed from our Aunt Dorothy, my father’s youngest sister. She told me of her conversation and then she gave me the most incredible news of all… our Aunt Dorothy lives in Beckley! I knew immediately that I could not pass up the chance to meet and talk to her but because of plans we had already made it would be the following afternoon before I could see her. As the time grew nearer I could feel the nervousness and anticipation begin to grow. I had no idea what she looked like, what she would be like or how she would react to meeting me, but as we pulled into the drive and began the walk to the door a calm came over me for I knew that once again destiny had intervened in my life. I knew this was meant to be…..
I reached the door and gently knocked a couple of times. In just a few seconds she appeared and pushed open the storm door just far enough to allow us to look at each other eye to eye.“ I’m looking for Dorothy” I said as I continued to study her face. She hesitated for a moment and then simply said “I’m Dorothy”. “I’m Temple “I replied. As Joyce described it to me later, she momentarily looked as if she had just seen a ghost, but then in an instant a smile flashed across her face and tears welled up in her eyes as she reached out for me and we embraced each other. I was somewhat overwhelmed by her emotion as she kept telling me that this is what her brother would have looked like……
I left her house that day hoping that maybe I had brought a little bit of unexpected happiness to her and wondering just what this encounter would mean to me as time goes by. But for now this sweet little lady has brought me a little closer to that far away piece of my life which I never knew.
