MY Christmas story happened yesterday. It's not a story about a miracle, instead it is a tale about hope, the power of prayer and the collective bond of friends pulling together. And it's happy ending, falling on Christmas Eve, makes the tale ever more powerful and prophetic.
I've known this friend since we were teenagers. We dated for a while and I remember romantically taking her on a first date to see "Monty Python & the Holy Grail" at the old Odeon opposite Ealing Town Hall on the Uxbridge Road. She must have been impressed! But we had a lot of fun and there was always laughter every time we went out - I don't think she could get a handle on my weird sense of humour, as I tried to work out the sarcasm in her refined Queen's English voice.
Over the years we moved our separate ways; I scooted round the country and abroad in journalism while my friend's path took her to Detroit where she married and later had two sons. This was before email, Twitter and mobile phones, but we stayed in touch through old-fashioned letter writing and phone calls. The friendship held steadfast.
Oh yes, the phone calls. We would talk endlessly, and because of the five-hour time difference the calls would be in the wee small hours. Life wasn't easy for an Englishwoman living abroad without the support of her immediate family and close friends, but my friend was stoic, a glass half-full lady who always tried to look at the positives.
Sadly, the marriage didn't work out and my friend's life with her two sons moved on. I once went out to visit her in Michigan and we caught up when she came back to Blighty, but by and large our contact remained through emails and now via the wonder of social media.
My friend, an engineer by trade who loves dance and is very arty by nature, has now lived more of her life in America than in England, but she still retains that plummy English accent, with an occasional American drawl on the long vowels.
She moved south to Florida, escaping the horrendous winters of Michigan to set up a new life in the sunshine state; her magnetic personality swiftly weaving together a new set of loyal and very dear friends.
Of course, from afar you can never know what is really going on through someone's mind, how they are thinking or feeling. Conversations by phone, email or even chatter on Facebook are abridged and superficial.
Last Thursday, she posted this on her Facebook page:
20 December at 17:41 ·
When you think of me remember that through the increasing hardship I always sought the joy in life. I have worked hard and always tried to help others. No time is good for this, but I would not have willingly chosen the holiday season. Please forgive me.
Immediately, alarm bells began ringing on both sides of the Atlantic. A friend called round her apartment and raised the Sheriff's department - she wasn't home, but her mobile phone was. A missing person's alert was put out for her and her car.
Through the power of Facebook, there was a collective brainstorming of ideas; where she could be, who could she have met, what had she been doing recently. Information was shared and then the platform was used as a means of prayer as well as offering messages of support in case she should chance upon her Facebook page to discover the love and care shared by all of her friends.
As days passed and there was no contact, so concern grew. Come Christmas Eve it was looking pretty grave. I didn't pick up on the news until Sunday and could only watch on and pray. I've lost a lot of faith this year, I've struggled with prayer and my belief, but I still prayed, I still hoped.
Information was shared by friends on both sides of the Atlantic. Those who had been in touch with the police and with her mother fed the news back. It was mesmorising to watch. It restored your faith in humanity as a force for good.
And then yesterday, the "miracle" happened, my friend was found. She was discovered in the Everglades National Park, given fluids and treated by a medical team before being whisked to hospital in Miami where she is now recovering. I've no idea how she really is, but she is safe, that is the important thing.
It's a good news story for Christmas Day.
It's a story of friends on both sides of the Atlantic, people who don't know each other, pulling together for one person through the power of social media.
There is much to criticise Facebook and Twitter for how it has been used and abused, but here it was as a force for good. It was inspiring, it touched the soul. And should my friend one day read back the trail of messages, hopefully it will be something to inspire her and realise there is love in the world.
My friend is safe and sound in Florida. Her journey has just started as she bids to rebuild her life. It won't be easy, but as one friend of mine wrote on my Facebook message board only today: the biggest storms create the learning and defining moments.
Happy Christmas.
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