The Prodigal Grandson

Things have been a little busy for the past couple of weeks and I haven't written anything. I just checked my archives and realize that I haven't written about our most exciting news. Our son's first marriage ended badly and his ex-wife got custody of their only child, Danny, named after me and born on my birthday. They lived in the Phoenix area 1200 miles from our little town in Eastern Oregon. We tried to keep contact; visiting him when we were in Phoenix, sending birthday and Christmas cards (often with gift cards enclosed). Our son moved to Dallas, Texas so we no longer visited Phoenix. Then the card we sent was returned with the inscription, "He doesn't live here." and just like that we lost track of our first grandchild. Ken still paid child support, but the payments went to the court, so he didn't have an address for him either. It really hurts to lose a grandchild, but after a while the pain subsided. Then, out of the blue, our son told us that his daughters had located Dan on the internet through "Facebook". And, surprise of surprises Ken called and said that he had talked with Dan and he lived only about 100 miles away. The next surprise was that Dan, who was now 21 had moved in with him. The lost boy was found after 12 years. We have talked with him on the phone and it is amazing how much he sounds like his father. We will see him at Thanksgiving when we fly to Arkansas. I find it hard to wait. I try to imagine what he looks like and have trouble equating the 9 year old in the last picture of him that we have with the young adult we will soon see. I may embarrass myself when we meet again, I will probably cry, an emotion that I have discovered nearer the surface as I age. They will be tears of joy, and I won't really be embarrassed. The one once lost has been found. We'll roast the fatted turkey.