Reunion

We talked about it for months. He had been in contact with her friend's daughter at school. The timing just seemed right because we were doing lifeguard training at the pool right up the road. He was eighteen now. He got her address from the girl at school, and we planned it on our way to training. When training was over we put on our sweats, and then in the dark of the evening, we drove slowly thorough the neighborhood looking for the house number. He pulled in the driveway, and my heart was beating fast. I knew he was nervous. We showed up unannounced, and he hadn't seen his mother in more than five years. They hadn't talked much since then either. It was complicated. Really complicated. He rang the doorbell and I stood back and watched. It was a lot like those talk show reunion shows, when they arrange for long lost relatives to meet for a surprise reunion on the show. A man we didn't recognize opened the door. He looked to the side back toward the inside of the house. "Linda," he called out. "I think you better come here." His mom came to the door, and my throat filled up with the world's biggest lump. She pulled her hands over her mouth with a gasp like she couldn't believe her eyes. Then she opened them wide and pulled him into an embrace. She held him so tight it seemed she wouldn't let go. From my vantage point I couldn't see his face, only hers. And the tears streamed down her cheeks as she looked up to the sky and barely breathed out the words, "I've been praying for this day to come." Once again her first born son was back in her arms.

Photo retrieved from lifewithoutpink