I am sure that divorce can never be a pleasant experience. Mine was traumatic. I found my wife in bed with one of my mates. There was no discussion. It was the end.
Living in a small village, just outside Poughkeepsie, I could not face the shame of it all and I packed my old suitcase the next day and left for New York. The case still had the holiday sticker glued to it, Florida Keys, that is where she and ‘him’ got together.
Looking back my emotions had taken over and I had not given any thought to the consequences of breaking up a family home, or that one day I would need to go about finding my lost family. Our daughter, Liane, was only fourteen years old and at the time I was only too glad to get away from the constant arguments and antisocial behaviour that was making my life so miserable. It seemed like my little girl hated me too.
Anyway I moved to New York where I thought that I would be able to ‘get lost’ in the city. It worked. I broke all ties with my ex-wife and daughter and started a new life. I found a job, rented an apartment and was soon dating a lovely lady who has now been living with me for two years.
Although my life took a turn for the better, the day came when I realized the wrong I had done to my daughter and my heart ached to know that she was OK. I put a letter together and sent it off. Some weeks later the letter cam back to me with ‘Unknown at this address’ written on it. I tried writing to relatives and even telephoning, but no-one would give me any information. Finally I got in the car and travelled north again to my home village. It is a wonder that I did not die on the spot from the looks I got. I booked a room at the local pub and, after establishing that my old home had new tenants, I decided to sit at the bar and find out what I could.
The next day I returned to my lovely lady in the south. I had discovered that my daughter had shacked up with a guy in Scranton and my wife had beggared off to Florida with her boyfriend to start a business there.
By now I was determined to find my daughter. I realized just how much I owed her. But how was I to find her? I became very depressed; the loss was eating me up. I know it sounds corny but I was so down that I did something that I had not done in a long time – I prayed to God.
That night on my way home from work I noticed a little group of people on the street. They were rattling collection boxes. Their uniforms gave it away, they were members of the Salvation Army. Something triggered off in my brain and the minute I got home I looked up the phone number of my local branch of the Salvation Army. After talking to a very patient woman for about ten minutes I was asked down to their office to talk further and take the one photo of my daughter which I had saved. Between us we came up with the names of friends and relations who may be helpful. I was reassured that there was an 85% chance that within a short period of time they would be able to locate my daughter.
And that is exactly what happened. They found my Liane, they gave her my telephone number and address and they gave me hers. I was told that in some cases people do not want to be ‘found’ but in my case there was a happy ending and now my lovely daughter is part of my life again.
Thanks to the Salvation Army Family Tracing Service I can now get to know my two grandchildren. So, if you are trying to locate a missing person, put the services of the Salvation Army on your list of People Search Services.
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Wishing you happy searching – David Sharp