大象传媒

I cannot begin to explain the feeling I had at that moment. All the let downs, all the build ups to nowhere. All the waiting and not knowing, and now it was over. I had found him alive and was talking to him over all those miles. Suffolk, England to California, USA. We must have talked for over an hour, about the war years and about ourselves. When I finally put the phone down I just couldn't believe my good fortune. It had taken only twenty weeks, roughly and I had now finally found him. I rang back my half brother in Pennsylvania, he had spoken to his mother and she had already confirmed that she knew of my existance. Kenny told me as much as he could about my American family and that I also had a half sister. After chatting for a while we hung up and I rang all the people in my family and circle of friends who I knew would be interested in my discovery and that I had finally found my father. In the evenings of the week that followed I wrote a fifteen page letter on A4 paper covering everthing I could think of and all the history of what had happened, or as near as I could get it. I wrote of everything from 1945 to the present day and when I had finished I rushed to the Post Office and mailed my very first letter to him.
Dawn and I decided that we must fly out to see him. It was the uppermost thing in my mind and I just couldn't rest until I had booked my flight to California. The folden day arrived and we boarded the plane. After what seemed like a lifetime of flying, we touched down in California. It was a small airport for internal flights and we quickly got off the plane. At that point as I stood on the tarmac, I wondered if I was dreaming. A short distance away there was a chain link fence and gate with about twenty people waiting nearby. It was early evening and the light was fading. I began to walk towards that fence and the whole world seemed to move in slow motion, I never thought I would reach it. As I drew closer to the fence I began to make out some of the people's faces. My eyes scanned back and forth and my heart was pumping fast. Suddenly I saw a tall, big man with one arm outstretched, leaning on a tree and I knew straight away who it was. I walked up to him and we were finally face to face after fifty years. We just shook hands and said hello. I could write a thousand words about that moment, but I'll just say that I'll never ever forget it for the rest of my life.
Our stay with him in California was fantastic and he did far more than he needed to to make us fel at home. We all got on so well together that it seemed like we had known each other all our lives. I've heard an old saying "We all have our time in the sunshine" and that certainly was mine. Since that trip, we have stayed in touch more or less on a weekly basis.
I've since changed my name to that of my Grandfather, Leroy Weaver and I feel as if I have a piece of my family history in that. I've also gained American citizenship and kept in touch with my brother and sister in Pennsylvania and also discovered several other relatives across America.
It seems a strange twist of fate now, that a directory enquiries man, who I never met and don't even know what he looks like, should say to me "Hang on I think I can help you .." and it opened up a whole new family for me. A family I never knew I had. You could call it luck, like the flip of a coin, the twist of a card or the throw of the dice or luck of the draw. But perhaps you make your own luck in life by just keeping going and not giving up.
So whoever you may be looking for. Or if its something that your looking for. Perhaps this story will inspire you to keep on going. Even when you feel all is lost, just go to bed, get some sleep, get up that next morning and start all over again.
By Leroy Weaver.

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