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If you read my last blog, you know that I have gained a new appreciation for friends and family, far and near. You just never know what the future holds for you or those you love. You need to take the time to let them know how important they are while you have them. And in the past few weeks, when one of my friends "fell off the map", I was a wreck.
Those of you who read my blogs might remember that I've written about my friend Patrick - not once, but twice. He's the art prodigy who I met while I painted murals with the U.S. Embassy in Liberia. He's a master with pastels, painting and ink, but it's his portrait drawings with pencil that blow me away. His work is almost photographic. Simply amazing.
His birthday was a couple of weeks ago. I wished him greetings, and then he went missing. He just disappeared.
His Facebook account was deactivated. His website was cancelled. He stopped answering email messages. I even went to Twitter, which I almost never do, with no reply. He was gone.
Like I said, I was a wreck.
I know that anything can happen to anyone at any time. Unless you have a guardian angel as gifted as mine, it's not always good when those things happen. In my travels, I've been in multiple bus, car and motorcycle accidents. I've been hospitalized a couple times with weird tropical diseases which include malaria (five times). My home has been broken into at least four times (once when I was in the house). And, it's not just me. I have friends who have been robbed, beaten, and a couple perished in plane crashes. Even my friend Patrick was surrounded by four thugs who mugged him.
Anything can happen. And, I was so very worried.What do you do when someone disappears? I mean, besides panic. You say your prayers and seek all the help you can get. I couldn't just call Patrick to see what's the problem. First of all, I didn't have his telephone number and, second of all, my stupid phone won't call as far as Africa. But, that didn't stop me. I was a man with a plan - actually four of them.
Plan A - I contacted two of his friends. Although his Facebook account had been closed, I could still look up old messages we shared. When I found two names, I located his friends on Facebook and sent messages.
Plan B - The daughter of my friend Daniel, in Liberia, has been in telephone communication with Patrick. I also sent her a message to contact Patrick.
Plan C - Patrick has been in communication with the president of a college in Liberia. His connection is at the top, with the president of the college, so I sent email messages to the top.
Plan D - I had the telephone number of one of Patrick's friends. Since I couldn't make the call, I contacted the Public Affairs Office of the U.S. Embassy in Liberia. I painted murals for them in Zwedru and Zorzor. They know me, so I thought this was a good time to ask a favor.
None of these brilliant ideas worked.
Nobody contacted Patrick.
After two weeks with no communication, and a serious weekend of fret, Patrick finally decided it was time to write to me. His Facebook site had been hacked. He'd been sick a few days. He lost his scholarship to that college. And, needless to say, he was down in the dumps. Down in the dumps but communicating is way better than falling off the deep end of the planet and missing. I was so very relieved that he was alive and well. Because, I have to admit, I feared the worst.
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That someone should also live a distance away from you. If something terrible happened in Ohio, there's a very good chance that a close contact in Ohio might also be in need, without electricity, transportation or telephone service. The designated contact should be far away. Far away is certainly nowhere in Michigan, but any other place will do.
Believe me, Patrick and I have now exchanged information.