And I Thought My Life Couldn't Get Any Weirder...

In the summer of 1998, my uncle Joe moved in with us. He just got a divorce and he didn't have a place to live. My parents told him that he could live with us for a while. A few months later he and my dad got into a fight about the rules of the house. My dad basically said that if you don't like it, you can leave. So my uncle left. He left, but didn't really tell anybody where he was going. He didn't even tell his kids.

A few months later after my dad had passed away, he came back for a little while. At this time I was having a real hard time with my job at Seven Eleven. I was working the graveyard shift and I never slept. I needed a new job. He told me that I could go to work with him. My mom gave me permission to quit my job. The next day, I quit my job. The day after that, he didn't show up.

A few weeks passed. He told his kids that he would be back for them. He never showed up. A few months passed. His friends called the house saying that he owed them money. A few more months passed. I went with my good friend, Scott Martin to Long Beach to drop off an elderly woman from church. On the way back home, on the 605 freeway, I saw a familiar face. It was my uncle Joe. I waved to him. He waved back. That was the last time I had ever seen him. That was in 1999. Nobody has seen him since.

A lot of time has passed. There have been family events that he has missed. He missed his kids graduate from high school. He missed my grandpa pass away. In 2005, when my grandpa passed away, my mom had it. She and pretty much the rest of my family didn't want anything to do with him. I say pretty much, because I think that I was the only one that wanted to see him come back. This is the time that I started to pray that he would come back.

It's 2009 now. A couple of weeks ago, I got a message on Facebook from my cousin Cassie recently became in contact with him. I told her that I missed him and I gave her my number to give him. She gave me his girlfriend's email address.

I sent her an email with my phone number. I was just thinking how weird it would be if all of a sudden he called me. All of a sudden all of these questions popped into my head. What would happen? Would I start a new relationship with him? Would my family disown me if I did have a relationship with him.

Last Friday he called me.