I was going through some old notebooks/journals and came across an article I had clipped (no newspaper cited):
For Pueblo, Colo., gas station clerk Nueng Garcia, it was just another day on the job until he noticed the name of one man who paid with a check.
“Are you John Garcia?” he asked the man. “Yes,” came the answer. “Were you ever in the Air Force?”
Yes.”
“Were you ever in Thailand?”
“Yes.”
“Did you ever have a son?”
They stared at each other and realized at the same moment that they were father and son who had been separated 27 years ago and half a world away.
John Garcia hadn’t seen his son since 1969, when he was a U.S. serviceman. Nueng was three months old when his father left Thailand. Garcia lost touch with him when Nueng’s mother started seeing another man. Nueng later came to the U.S.
John Garcia moved to Pueblo nine years ago. He said he never goes to that gas station, wasn’t even low on gas and hardly ever pays with a check.
The clipping was from 1996. I found a similar story archived in People Magazine. The universe calls at times. Are you listening? Or, are you willing to make the moment happen?
Notes:
- I didn’t have any pictures from Pueblo, Colorado. Used Boulder.
- The story feels too good to be true. Happens.
