Friends Page

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Bridgette: Married to Bruce

Out of all my friends, I'm still in contact with today, Bridgette is the one I met longest ago. Beginning way back in 7th grade at Grant Jr.High I was a shy kid and to make it worst I have a hearing impairment. 7th grade was my first grade with multiple teachers and I was confused and terrified. Sitting next to me was this gorgeous blonde girl who, upon sensing my confusion, leaned over and said "hello, my name is Bridgette, I will help you the best I can" I said "Bridgette? that's a hard name to pronounce" and she immediately wrote on a piece of paper "Bridge it" and said "No, it's really easy to say"

In that single instant she changed my life and how I seen other people and how it was true that there are people out there that really care about me and want to help me along. She has no idea how big an impact she made that continues to this day over 20 years later.

We kept in touch throughout Jr High and she continued to help me and my grades went up like crazy and she let me read and copy her notes and we even stuck together a little bit on our trip to Washington DC in 8th grade.

Sadly, between Jr High and High School our paths took different roads and thanks to some bad information I was under the impression she had moved out of state. Because of that I never realized she was right there with me in High school!!

Along came the Internet and I spent hours and hours searching for her. Why??? I don't know. But I do know out of all the great people I lost contact with Bridgette was the only one who remained on my mind and would not let go. We never even dated, we were just friends but I knew I had to find her.

I stumbled across classmates.com and found her name there. The excitement was incredible! I sent her a note via classmates and for two weeks I heard nothing. Then one day I got a note via classmates from HER!! It begin" Hello Todd, I don't know if you remember me but my name is Bridgette S." My heart pounded...but I started thinking..what about MY note I sent 2 weeks ago? I got the worst case of the chills down my spine at the moment that I realized she never got my note but out of some 20 years of looking for her, within the SAME two week period we made contact!! I cannot deny that I believe there was a greater force at work here because it is perfectly clear to me now that OUR FRIENDSHIP was meant to be!!

Her wonderful husband Bruce could not be more compatible with me as a buddy. We get along superb! Her 4 children are terrific and we love them all. What more can we ask for??

Thank you for coming back into my life!!!

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Renee: It's not perfectly clear exactly when I met Renee. But it was in my mid-teens. Possibly through her boyfriend at the time. She lived right around the block from me. I remember this short, cheerful, beautiful brunette who always had a soft voice and a warm smile for those who hung around with her. Extremely loyal and faithful as I found out when she refused to go out with me during one of the many times she broke up with her boyfriend citing her everlasting love for him. Some 17 hard years later she realized she deserved to be happier then she was and it was over.

Her, her boyfriend and myself were our own little gang and we all spent a lot of time together playing video games at Ming Collision Shop on 9 mile Rd. Her boyfriend and myself practiced martial arts together and had a great time.

Parties were the par for the weekends and we got drunk so many times it's hard to remember anything except that we all had a great time. During all those years as teens and young adults we shared many many things together including going out on double dates and talking to each other in our times of need. Renee has always been there whenever she truly could. For that she will always hold a special place in my heart.

During my own 1st marriage we lost contact for over 10 years. When I got divorced in 2000 Renee was one of the first people I wanted to find because I needed the type of true loyal friendship she provided. Upon finding her we decided to never lose contact again and continued our friendship like we never lost contact in the first place. We had lunch together, we worked for long hours on showing her the ropes to computer operation and she gave me the cute name of "her professor" which I will never forget. We spent endless afternoons cruising around for garage sales which we both loved to browse. We shared old life stories and created new ones forming an unbreakable friendship.

At the time I was divorced she was married but she wanted me to be happy. But I don't think she expected what would happen after she innocently brought her best friend Christina over after they took in the Gratiot cruise together. Because of Renee...I met this wonderful gorgeous woman, Christina who I would marry and for the FIRST time in my entire life, be truly truly happy with who I was with and have this incredible feeling of being part of my own little family complete with two of the best step-daughters any guy could ask for. It's all Renee's fault!! :)

Again, I ask myself if there was a greater force at work here drawing me to regain contact with Renee after a 10 year absence. Perhaps that force knew she would intro me to Christina?? Hmm??

But the skies darkened and I soon found out that Renee's marriage was tormented by unhappiness. With Christina's and my support she saw how happy both of us ended up after enduring marriages that didn't work out and she wanted the same.

Wanting to return the favor of introducing me to my future wife, I introduced her to my high school friend Rob and sparks flew!!

Rob and I were classmates and buddies in High School. He was a very friendly guy and we had a great time in many classes. Over the years. class schedules changed and we lost touch.

I decided to get involved with motorcycles and a friend had a specific type of bike that I liked a lot so found one and purchased it. Wanting to learn more about the bike and how to repair it I joined a motorcycle discussion group. While I was reading I noticed one guy signed his home town as the one I grew up in so I emailed him asking him if he knew the area, etc. After a few emails back and forth we realized we knew each other from school and he was on my front porch in under an hour. That guy was Rob and a friendship so solid formed through motorcycle riding, a few beers and hanging out together that I had to ask him to be my best man when I married Christina.

A real gentleman and a karaoke master, Rob is one of the nicest guys I have ever met. His two children have become friends of my two step-daughters and now that he is dating My wife's best friend, Renee, the liaison could not work out better!!!