Dear Internet - you've just made yourself very useful.

[reynardo]

25 years ago, I lived in Orange in NSW. It was a small country town, and the house beside me was a designated Indigenous Public Housing house. Living there was a girl, Leila, who was about 10. She'd drop over for a cup of tea and some biscuits, and we'd talk about maths and the world and science and life and all sorts of things.

I moved to another house on the other side of town, and one winter's afternoon found Leila outside, shivering in the sleet, because she hadn't wanted to go home until her mum was there (she had several cousins living there as well, and things could get violent). So I grabbed some food from the shops, hustled her into the warm, sent her to have a hot bath, dragged out some old clothes of mine, then after feeding her, sent her home in a taxi (which I paid for).

I left the town soon after, and always worried about her. Worried that she'd fall through the cracks and end up one of those children or young adults lost to drugs or alcohol or just a miserable life.

Last year, though, I found her on Facebook, and we reconnected. Today, she rang me, and we had a lovely chat.

One thing, though, breaks my heart. Her oldest child is 21, the same age as da_norvegicus. She was only 14 when he was born. I wish somehow I could have given her more chances in life, helped her along more. I was 24 when I knew her. I did seriously consider talking to her mum and offering to foster her. Would this have helped? Would it have been stealing her away from her culture? Would it have been a failure?

I'll never know.

But the important thing is that today, she is well, healthy, has beautiful children, a supportive partner, and lives down in South Australia. She is computer literate, and happy with her life.

And I know that, thanks to the internet.

Comments

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

I think that this generation of people are going to develop some interesting, long-lasting, friendships...

[mr-figgy.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't have ever known you without the internet.

[reynardo.livejournal.com]

And I would be much poorer without knowing you!

[sly-girl.livejournal.com]

You'll never know what could have happened, but you know what did happen - and it worked out fine :)

[gelsey.livejournal.com]

Oh how wonderful to know all of that! There are always what ifs, but she has obviously overcome her obstacles. Yay internet, and more importantly, yay you and her.

[beowabbit]

That’s awesome!

[nimrod-9.livejournal.com]

Cool! And yay for you and her too!

[kerravonsen]

You did not fail her. Silly to second-guess if you could have done more, when at least you did something; you gave her shelter when she needed it.
And she's well and happy. I think that's a WIN.

[delphipsmith]

What a wonderful "magic of the interwebz" story :) There is nothing more content-making than discovering that someone you cared about and worried about is in fact happy and doing well. The world is full of what-if's, but you were kind to her when she needed it and she's in a good place today, so "All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well."

[carlowe.livejournal.com]

That's lovely.