Perspective

I recently found some old friends on Facebook. Well, I found my old friend's little sister and father on Facebook. I haven't seen this old friend since I was a senior in highschool. This is the friend who I met at the tender age of 11, in 6th grade. I have to admit, we got in a ton of trouble together, but being her friend definitely had an impact on how my life turned out and who I am today.

She was like my sister in a way. We shared the fact that I'm Asian and she's half. We loved that about each other. We almost pretended to be sisters to strangers in fact. I spent countless hours at her house, staying up late, sneaking out, smoking cigarettes. Joy riding in our friend Jesse's minivan. So many memories. She unfortunately, due to many things, dropped out of school and ended up in a foster home. We lost track of each other shortly after that....until one random day. I was a senior in high school, I hadn't seen her in probably 2-3 years. She stopped over my house and was showing off her beautiful baby girl who she had named Deana. She looked great being a new mom, but it was very different for me. I was still a kid, partying like there was no tomorrow, had new friends....it was very different to see her as a mom and living her new lifestyle. I had no idea where she was living, who the baby-daddy was or anything about her new life.

A few months later (maybe more than a few) I stopped at her parents house to see her with her now almost-one-year-old daughter. And she was pregnant with #2. Again, she looked great, her family seemed put together again. All seemed well. We went to the park with her baby and spent the time catching up and spending time together. That was the last time I ever saw her.

I recently found her younger sister on Facebook and immediately sent her a message asking about my friend. I was told they are both now living in Hawaii (awesome!) and that my friend now had 3 kids. There were only a few pictures posted, and they weren't great, but from what I can tell, my friend looks amazing and look like she hasn't changed in all these years.

Then I found her father on Facebook as well and found some blogs he's posted over the years. This is where I got emotional. He writes in his blogs about his oldest daughter (my friend) who is serving in Iraq. Turns out my friend decided to get her life in better order and joined the United States Army. She's has served two tours in Iraq (while leaving her two babies behind ---#3 came later). I can't imagine what it would be like to leave your babies behind while you go fight on the front lines. My friend, my sister. She's only 5'2" and maybe 105lbs. Maybe. She was always a fighter and I always knew she'd end up on top. To find out all of this happened while I was going to college, getting a job, moving home, buying a house...to know that she was on the front lines fighting for MY freedom. Ugh. My heart just filled with love, emotion, everything I could imagine. I NEVER thought I'd feel this way. Maybe it's because I had this bond with this one person....and just never thought she'd go through this.

I haven't yet made contact with her personally, just a few messages back and forth to her dad and sister. I gave my phone number so I'm really, really, hoping she'll call. She also just recently bought a motorcycle and has been riding it a lot....HOW FREAKIN COOL. I can't wait to get on the phone with this girl and actually talk to her. I want to hear from her what life's been like. I want to know if she's still on active duty or if she's done with the Army. I want to know what it's like to have 3 kids. I want to know if/when she'll be coming home so I can try to meet up with her. I have this flood of emotion and I'm not sure how to handle it. I'm shocked at my reaction to finding all of this out. I keep obsessively checking my Facebook account, hoping I get a new message from someone in her life.