The village

My stepmother has a blog, which I mentioned once a long time ago. When she posted last week for the first time since, gosh, maybe before the holidays, I scooted over there to see what was up. Much to my surprise, there was a commenter whose name I didn't recognize, but who acted like she knew Keash almost as well as I do!

I went through a mental list of names of people it could be...Keash's friends, nieces, coworkers, friends' kids, kid's friends...nothing was ringing a bell. At the same time I was thinking, I clicked on the link that this "Nicole" person had left. I poked around her site, and realized that it JUST might be someone I had heard of yet never met.

My dad has kept in close touch with his best friend from childhood, Ron. Ron moved out west from Michigan at some point (smart man!). Not that long after, if I remember well, my dad's brother Mike also moved to the same western city. (Minty...you know what city this is.) Ron said a toast at my sister's wedding. I last talked to Ron in 2004, alongside the beach in San Diego, CA. On the phone. While my friend Ols was rowing. He's a psychologist, and I needed to talk. Dad hooked me up. I barely remember the conversation beyond knowing that Ron and his family are family to me. The last time I actually SAW Ron, it was 1996.

When I was little I saw the Ron Family pretty often, as they would come home to Michigan to visit the grandparents. One time in particular I recall his older daughter not being able to sleep when visiting my dad's house, because it was 6 p.m. her time--jet lag. There was another daughter, and then the youngest, Ronnie. The last time I saw those kids was probably 20 years ago or more.

There was a really good chance that this Nicole girl was Ronnie's wife. RONNIE? Isn't he like seven years old or something?

Nope. He's a doctor. And his wife is Nicole. They have a baby. And Nicole has links to a flickr site. And on that site I saw all of my people...the far-away western tribe.

My family!