Out of the Blue, I Heard From an Old Friend

Last Saturday I was making Hamburger Helper when the phone rang.

"Is this Donna Talarico?" Yes

"Did you ever live in Tulsa, Oklahoma?" Yes

"Did you know a M.M."? Yes

"THIS IS HER!!!"

Holy shit. M. (I am using her intials to conceal her identity incase.) I hadn't seen here in 14 years. I've Googled her many times to see if I could find her and searched all the social networking sites for her, and even earlier on, just searched the online phone books. (That's how she found me, the online white pages.) I never had a any luck finding her. I never stopped thinking about her- we were best friends for a few years-- during those crucial years too, the ones where you get drunk for the first time and lose your virgnity and all that fun teenage stuff.

One of the last times I saw her before I moved away from Tulsa, to Muskogee and then back to PA was when she was going to do some bad things with some random strangers. I left. She left the job we had together and then I moved. And that was it. Before that, we were inseperable.

One of the first things she said to me was that she did not do drugs anymore. Turns out she's been off meth for a while now.... All this time I've been living my life, not exactly perfectly, but I find out after 14 years that my old best friend has been struggling with drug addiction, had an abusive relationship (he's in jail) and right now her children live with her mom. This is likely why I never found her online, because she was caught up in this other lifestyle where technology didn't fit in too well.

However, the call was a happy one. Things seem to be on the upswing for her. I swore to her that I'd be a phone call away if she needed someone to talk to, if she needed a friend. I told her that sometimes it just takes one positive person in your life to help you get through a hard time.

We talked about the old gang and our lives and it felt so great talking to her. I am so glad to hear from her after all these years; it was quite a surprise. She told me how smart I was back then, and how she should have listened to me. I know there was nothing I could have done, it's just the way life happened, but when I hung up the phone, I couldn't help but think how her life could have been different if I stuck around. Or-- how my life could have been different if I stuck around. It's funny when you think about what one small choice can do and how big an effect it can have on your entire life.

This call stuck with me for days. It was difficult to process some of the things she told me because I left when we were 16. But I didn't want to be mad or judge because she only came back into my life for a few minute long phone call. I hope she stays cleaned up and that if I ever get back to OK to see my family there that I can visit her. I am glad her story is leading toward a happy ending. ; )

I'd post the picture I found of Milissa and I, but I am far too embarrassed of my feathered hair. I'll have to dig deeper. The picture above is the whole Tulsa Word newspaper crew on a trip into Rogers, AK. She's the one with the cowboys jersey and I'm the chick with cartoon band-aids on my knees- it was a dumb fad.