Connie

I am patiently awaiting for an email to arrive. I keep these special emails in a folder in my inbox so I never lose them. Sometimes I get them really early in the morning, and sometimes they come in the middle of the day.  Never the less, they come monthly, and sometimes weekly.

My biological father was married before he met my mother and had 3 children, Connie, Christy, and Jimmy. He later married my mother, and of course came me! I have no memories of my time with my half brother and sisters, just a few family photos which I believe my mom has. I was very young when my parents divorced and after that I never saw them again. Many years later as a young adult I had a few phone conversations with my father, catching up and what not, and I remember him telling me about Christy, and how she was very sick with cancer. I felt so bad as I knew she had a husband and 2 little girls. Some time had passed and I received a phone call from my father saying Christy has passed away. I can remember exactly where I was when I found out. Even though I didn't know Christy I felt so bad for her family, her mother, her sister, and her brother. I had only heard good things about Christy and what a wonderful spirit she had, and I knew she would be missed my many.

Fast forward to almost 2 years ago. Somehow, I had gotten Connie's instant messenger name, and email address. I remember one of the first times I had chatted with her online. It was the night before I went to the hospital to deliver Jaxon.  I was up because I couldn't sleep due to nerves and excitement, and she popped online and we chatted for awhile. She was so sweet in saying how happy she was for us and how excited she was. She said we were in her thoughts and prayers and she would be thinking of us constantly. From then on we haven't stopped talking. Sometimes time gets the better of us and we go 2 to 3 weeks between emails, but we know we are thinking of each other and the second we get a free moment we send the other an email. Connie has two sweet kids, Shannon her oldest daughter, and Patrick her son. I love hearing all the stories about their birthdays, school, and their family vacations. About 6 months ago she sent me a big packet full of old and new pictures. Some pictures of her kids, her vacations, her wedding, and Christy's wedding. They were wonderful. I enjoyed getting to know them through all those pictures. I enjoyed seeing the pictures of Christy's 2 girls and how much they looked like their mother. I was so glad to know that Connie was very much involved in their lives as I know they miss their mother terribly.

I have come to learn that I depend on Connie's emails more than I thought. (She listens to my parenting concerns and gives me great advice based upon her experience.) I care about her family and love hearing about what is going on in their lives. I am excited to hear about her recent anniversary trip that her husband surprised her with to Florida. I am excited to hear about how the kids are enjoying summer vacation. I laughed out loud when she told me about her husbands "alcohol free" trip to Aruba! I love hearing about the shannanogins that little Patrick gets into! We share different stories about what is going on in our lives, and even talk about remodeling different rooms in our homes. Even though we are thousands of miles away I feel so unbelievably connected to her. I know that her husband has a new job where he gets to travel a lot, and there might be a possibility that she would get to come with him should he have to come to the DFW area. I sure hope so as I would LOVE to see her!

So Connie, I would like to say thank you. Thank you for your kindness, your advice, your love, and your concern. It is always nice to know that you care. Most importantly, thank your for your continuous emails.