Friday, April 5, 2013

I love the internet

Yes. Its been 8 months since I posted -- to be honest, I kind of forgot about the blog! But today I'm here not to post about my baby (who is now over 3, and amazes me every day with her intelligence, cleverness, humor, sensitivity, and ability to see beauty in everything so is TOTALLY post-worthy), but because the internet is an amazing thing.

Rena Parab was my best friend when I was a kid -- like, kindergarten/first/second grade. I lived in MA at the time, and I still remember Rena's face, her smile, her laugh, and her family. Rena was sick - even as kids we could grasp some of it. She missed school, she had doctor's visits, she couldn't play sometimes because she wasn't feeling well... She had Cancer, Leukemia if I remember correctly. My family moved to VA, and Rena and I got those Best Friends necklaces...the ones where each girl wears half the heart? We wrote letters, but there's only so much pen palling a kid can do. And then one day we got a phone call.... Friends from MA called to tell me Rena had died. As a kid, you know Cancer is bad - you know your friend is sick - you wish you could see her because you miss her... but you never know it's THAT dire. And being away, I couldn't see first hand if she was well or getting sicker.

I don't remember the date of the call, I know from online that it was 1991, so we must have moved to CT already but it is so foggy. Part of the phone call is etched in my mind forever. 11ish years old, and I'll never forget. Lori Berkeley (who had a twin named Katie - I was friends with both) called to tell me Rena had died. We got disconnected for some reason - it was heart wrenching being told such devastating news, and then cut off. I just sobbed.... and finally the phone rang again and I got a little more info. I truly don't remember anything that was said. I cried and cried into my mom's lap and shoulder for hours, and was tormented that I couldn't go to MA to say goodbye.

I've never forgotten Rena. Ever. She is unforgettable.  I always wore the necklace. I lost it one day on the playground in CT - cried and searched for hours, and then every day after that had my eyes on the ground hoping to see a shiny gold chain catch the sun. I never found it and I still hate that I don't have it - she was my best friend, she really was, and I had nothing to remember her or honor her with.

Now and then I Google her, to see if I can find family or an article or a donation made in her name. Today was one of those days. I Googled & found a blog that talked about her. A woman had very creatively knitted an adorable doll for her niece...and named it Rena, after her friend who had died too young of cancer. Who else could it be? I don't remember the girl, I don't think... but I commented on the post & she wrote me back and we're starting to see where the connection is - besides Rena of course. Maybe we were friends too? Very much looking forward to finding out more.

Tiny yet powerful, full of love and hope and spunk, she's connecting people hundreds of miles away and 20 years later.  The blogger said something in her post that I'll echo because today I feel it completely:

Sometimes life's mysteries are just too good...