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A
New Beginning
A story of
perseverance and faith
By Omar Zapanta
Tamara Zapanta walked nervously, her
hands clasp tightly as her heart begins to pound her
chest. All of a sudden her father appeared through
a sea of travelers in the crowded airport, their eyes
locked, then for a brief moment, time stood still.
She hurried across the terminal with her backpack
slung to her back, noticing that everything seems
to be in slow motion as she gradually makes her way
across the busy pathway. They hugged and wailed, tears
streaming down their faces after her husband and the
internet helped reunite them on that Saturday morning,
23 years after her parents divorce.
“You
look great,” said Mr. Cummings, sobbing in front
of dozens of on lookers.
“You
look great too,” replied Tamara who was full
of emotions and did not really know what to say.
A decade of searching and 3,055.34
miles from home in California, father and daughter
are finally reunited. The reunion marks a happy moment
as many family struggles with separation, and to witness
such a remarkable occasion provides true testament
that anything is possible as long as there is hope.
“I
didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t really
expect much at all, but when I met him he lived up
to every expectation I could have had and even more.”
“We
seemed to have a lot in common. I think I get a lot
of my personality from my dad. I’ve always felt
that there was a part of me missing, but now I’ve
found it. I’m starting to feel a lot happier
about myself… I feel complete.”
Tamara lost contact with her father
after her parents separated when she was 4 years old.
Mr. Cummings, whose first name is ‘Mike’
but has quickly become ‘Dad’ and ‘Grandpa’
to her and her family, continued to see her as much
as possible after the separation. An acrimonious divorce,
a career with the U.S. Armed Forces, and forced geographical
separation eventually led Mike to losing touch with
her.
“I
think he abandoned me,” she admitted.
“I was not told the whole truth, I was only
told snippets. As a child you are told things and
you believe them. You grow up believing them and I
think that makes you very insecure. I’ve always
been insecure and it hasn’t helped at all through
life.”
Tamara tried
unsuccessfully to find Mike several times and it was
only after she met her husband that she struck lucky.
After a process of elimination, and the aid of the
internet, her husband managed to single out a phone
number and an address to a place in East Kingston,
New Hampshire. Their hearts in their throat, and body
filled with anticipation they were suddenly succumbed
by doubts and fears of rejection.
“What
if he doesn’t remember me? What if he has his
own family and doesn’t want anything to do with
me? What if he hates me?”
“I can’t do it, you call him, please,”
said Tamara to her husband.
The very next
day while Tamara was away at work, her husband placed
a call to the number they found and soon after changed
their lives forever.
“Yes,
I have a daughter named Tammy, as a matter of fact
she just had her birthday. I know because my birthday
is the day before hers,” said Mike.
“Then I got this phone call. To say I was shocked
was an understatement. I knew I wanted to see her
and I’m so glad I did. She’s a beautiful
woman and everything I could hope for and more.”
“We can’t make up for the last 23 years
but we certainly can make a good future for us.”
Tamara and her family
will travel to Mike’s East Kingston home this
coming Christmas to meet his wife, her new found brother,
Chris, 15, and her long lost beloved grandmother whom
she sorely missed. Once again together as a family they
feel complete. This is the beginning of something new
and the end of something true for both Mike and Tamara.
Their minds fill with excitement, a new path to complete
lie ahead of them with so much opportunities and so
much room to grow. Let this be a lesson to all, love
is a powerful thing, and as long as you have hope, love
will see you through.
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