Plotting Princess Pamela Stone on Sometimes Life Takes an Interesting and Unexpected Turn

Sometimes, life takes an interesting and unexpected turn. Back before Christmas, I received an email from a guy whose family lived next door to my parents when I was born. He'd tracked me down through my website and wanted to know if I was 'the Pam' who was born in Dallas and lived off East Ohio. If so, did I remember Jimmy from next door?  Oh man did I remember. He and his brother, Robert, were a huge part of those first eight years of my life.

As Jim and I emailed back and forth and swapped memories, he'd send me pictures of some of the things we did as kids. Talk about a stroll down memory lane. Robert was cool too, but he was older and ran around with my aunt and the other teens in the neighborhood. Jim and I were the youngest kids on the block and he got stuck hanging out with me. We were united in our mutual dislike of our red hair and freckles.

My dad had lots of hobbies and Jim and Robert were always in on the fun. Go-karts, fishing, bow and arrows, and even an RC plane. Once when it snowed, Daddy built a cage that we could spread bread crumbs inside. When it filled with birds, I'd pull a string from our warm seats inside the house and the cage would drop the last few inches and trap the birds. Then we'd bundle up and tromp outside. Daddy would point out the different kinds of birds and we'd get a close up look before he'd release them and set the cage up to catch more. We worked all day to catch a cardinal. Here is a picture  Jim sent of him inside the bird trap.

Robert and Jim would play cards with my family on our living room floor or in pretty weather outside on the porch. Our moms exchanged recipes. Our families celebrated birthdays. It was a great time growing up in small frame houses and just finding fun things to do. Jim remembers his dad growing strawberries, but before Jim could get them, his dad would hand them through the fence to me, the brat next door. The other day when he came to visit he asked me if they were as good as they'd looked. Ha!

We are also amazed how many similarities there are in our adult lives also, especially given that we hadn't seen each other in almost forty years.

He and his wife, like my hubby and I, dated in Fort Worth and frequented the same reastaurants and theaters.
We each raised two boys in the same town, just a few miles apart.
We both love American Eskimo dogs. He and his wife still have one.
His wife and I both had 66 Mustangs as our first cars.
Both Jim and my hubby restored two mustangs each.  A 1966 and a 1969.
Jim and I both worked in the technology field.
We all love to travel and to collect glass art. Strange, fun hobby to share.
Love the Texas Hill country, New Braunfels, and Gruene.
And best of all, Jim and I have wonderful memories of growing up in an idealistic 50s type neighborhood.

In both pics below, that's my brother Jim to my left. We don't plan to wait another 39 years to catch up. So many memories to share.

Is there someone from your past you've lost contact with and then years later reconnected? Did it feel like you were never apart?

Pamela Stone is having a blast tormenting new characters in her current work in progress. Her books are available on Amazon or eHarlequin and she can be found at both www.pamelastone.net and http://plottingprincesses.blogspot.com.