In the summer of 1985, I was feeling restless. I'd just completed my second year of college and would eventually transfer to a 4-year university. A good friend of mine was in the same boat. Joan was studying to be a pharmacist.
One day, she said to me, she said, "Soon, I will be spending hours every day inside a pharmacy. You'll be in an office. We'll probably both get married and have kids. Now, we're free. We should travel".
I honestly hadn't thought about it that much, but when she said those words to me, I realized she was right.
We each took money we'd been responsibly saving from our part-time jobs and bought one-way tickets to Nepal. Maybe not the most original destination for students taking a year off, but it was cheaper than Paris. We hardly even planned it, just arrived in Kathmandu with one backpack apiece and boots on our feet, ready for adventure.
We trekked, we camped, we met wonderful people along the way. Our savings went a long way, and we weren't worried if we ended up spending all of it. Like Joan had said, someday we'd be working professionals, but then we were free.
One night, we were with another group of hikers. We'd been camping with this group for a few days, and that night around the campfire, I struck up an easy friendship with Guy. That was his name: Guy. He was from Ohio.
Guy and I stayed up all that night, talking and sipping our horrible Nepalese beers. Joan was in the tent with a sweet Nepalese man named Samir. After that, the four of us became somewhat of a family. We rented a small place to live in Pokhara where we continued to enjoy the people and culture.
Eventually, it was time to return to the states and to our responsible, goal-oriented lives. Joan and I enrolled at CU, ready to get back to the books after our satisfying year off. But I noticed something was different. I felt... different.
Soon after that, I learned I was pregnant. With twin boys. Guy's twins.
There was no way I could keep them. I debated whether to contact Guy or not, but he had returned to Ohio to serve in the military, and I just didn't see a future with him. With him and our babies.
Adoption. That was my answer.
Luckily, at the time, I was renting a room from a divorced empty-nester. She was active at her church, and, long story short, she arranged the whole adoption for me. I only asked that I be able to name the children, and that they were to keep those names after the adoption. It was agreed.
I gave birth in a hospital in Boulder, held my twins for a couple of hours, kissed their sweet heads, and then never saw them again. My own family never even knew. I just told them I was so busy with work and classes, I didn't have time to go home and visit.
Through my landlady, I was able to learn how our babies were doing, but I never tried to contact them. I do have a few pictures from that time, however. Gosh, it seems like a whole 'nother life ago.
This is Guy, wearing his climbing helmet adorned with Buddhist prayer calligraphy.
I wonder, does he still have it?
These are our babies. My landlady got this photo for me when they were about 6 months old.
Wallace, named after my father, on the left. Greenbary, named after Guy's father, on the right.
They were adopted by an infertile couple in Florida. Nice family, I understand. I know through sources that they grew up strong and healthy and went to college at the University of Miami where Wally played tight end and Greenbary was a defensive lineman for the football team. Go 'canes!
I don't know where either one is today. I've also no idea what became of Guy.
And that's the reason I post this information. Now. Maybe someone out there knows them, I've been carrying this secret for such a long time. Like...
... four days or so.
This IS a true story, with just a few minor embellishments. For instance, I have no idea who the people in these photos are. I checked a book out of the library a few days ago, and nestled somewhere around page 117 were these photos. And I got to wondering...
The only thing I know is that the photos were developed at a Walgreens.
WALLGREENS.
WALL... GREENS...
But my friend Joan? She's totally real. We went to Junior College and then University together. And I also rented a room from a divorced, churchgoing, empty nester named Myra.
And Joan IS now a pharmacist and she DID talk of travelling before settling down. She went to Germany for about a month... without me. Or anyone named Samir.
So, yeah. It's all mostly true.
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Linking up with
Mama Kat for the prompt:
2.) Write a blog post inspired by the word: adventure
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