Chapter 8
To Present
To Present: The years passed quickly for Charles. He went straight to workbuilding a new life, finding his veneration from others, and most importantly, moving on. Facebook at its earliest beginnings, 2004, wasn’t offering much assistance in locating Royce. He did promise himself he would try again. He figured it wouldn’t be too much longer before Facebook and Google would mushroom into exposing the social directory of who’s who. Once more, he’d say ‘again later.’ ‘Is it time, is it okay, to call her?’ He asked himself. Using information on her business card, he searched for Royce and her mediation business, her manual on beating Small Claims Court with renewed earnest. Nothing. Google and Yahoo were both touting their database of trackable people. Nothing. He knew she combined her first married name in her present married name. But which first name matched to which last name? He didn’t remember. Variations. Nothing.
He called the number on her business card. No answer, no forwarding message, just the typical missive “this is not a working number”; apparently recorded by a mean-spirited person who didn’t care if you were trying to find someone important, special.
Time passed. Charles’s business life and personal activities were keeping him busy and preoccupied his mind with more immediate concerns; his children marrying, new people to meet, and organizational demands, responsibilities just overran his life, they kept him distracted.
Things normally wane over time, he imagined. Not his fault. He couldn’t find her, and his life just kept moving forward. It’s hard to think of someone who has become an enigma; an unsolved mystery. She’s married to two husbands, with no decision where he would fit in, or not fit in as a ‘private memory’. That Charles might just be ‘that piece of the puzzle that might not have any complimentary piece to fit into.’ It’s not his fault if he can’t find her. He rationalized that he shouldn’t stop moving forward with his life, meeting new people, having new experiences, just because of the memory of her. If she didn’t want to be found, so be it, he justified. In spite of this reasoning, he still never completely stopped thinking about Royce. Occasionally, he wondered how his present lifestyle would attract a woman like Royce, not the child he slept with, but the one he met at Cherry Grove. Would she love him; sleep with him? But what difference does that make now. He couldn’t find her. It seems that she will continue to be the one that controls when they would meet again. He’ll have to be patient.
In 2010, he finally found her first husband on the internet. And there she was. Her name mentioned in the article about the husband. Not in the present moment, but rather in an old article about their TV show pilot that was making news in the local supermarket tabloids back in 1997. There was no other mention of this TV pilot or of Royce nor of her husband[s]. A dead end? But her name printed was enough to send a chill down his spine. He continued looking over the years.
In 2019, Charles again found links to her first husband, his children [from a marriage following Royce] and books that he had written. Only mention of Royce in his bio was a brief line about that damn TV pilot and a comment about how he and ‘his former wife, Royce’ worked closely with him on that failed project. Renewed hope. Over worked, under satisfied obsession.
COVID-19. Charles retired again, this time from real estate, and with the onset and persistence of COVID-19 hanging around, he had plenty of time to pick up his quest, Royce. Royce, the kid he loved so much. Royce, the woman that captured his imagination. Royce, the lady he met on the beach. Would she still love him? Would she live with him? Would she fill his emptiness? Was this now a simple matter of curiosity? They are now both in their seventies. Would they be so entrenched in their present lives to even consider renewing a what? Renewing a relationship? How long can a childhood relationship last before the binding deteriorates by age?
He curiosity was very high, and he justified this renewed need to find her, as completing an example of a life riddle. So, he began a search marathon of name combinations, places, occupations, books, a sister’s name, a mother’s first name. It became a task now, daily exercise of wanting to know where she is. Yet, but expected, at the end of each day, an exercise in futility.
April 2021 Charles finally found Royce! There was just one line in a Google search-engine-result-page that started with “Royce”. He found her! Full married name, with her former husband’s name inserted between her name and her present married name, as expected. ‘There she is!’ Letters on a white screen were proof! The Google page was inhaling and exhaling her memory in his mind. As fate would have it, at this exact moment, the phone ring, and the doorbell chimed, his dog barked, and Ring Doorbell notified him that someone was at his entry; a seemingly last-ditch effort of a coincidental orchestration of an elusive intrusion that seems constantly surrounds him lately. Did Charles believe in providence? ‘Keep the page open,’ he demanded to himself to comply! ‘Answer the damn phone, the damn door and get back to the computer!’ he ordered himself to comply. By the time he did get back to the computer, he found it didn’t hold its place on the internet. It must have gone into a sleep mode, and when it was reopened it returned to a blank Google search page. Gone! Frustration. It took another day of trying, retyping all those variations, getting angry and discouraged for every unreachable body itch and possible interferences and disturbances lurking around him trying to distract him. ‘This Karma thing is going to kill me for sure’ he thought.
Suddenly, persistence paid off. ‘There it is!! There is the link! There is Royce’s name!’
‘A link where she is going to be found! Finally!’ he screamed to himself. Charles never bother to read the link completely, he saw her name, just closed his eyes and clicked on it.
http;//www.legacy.com >ROYCE
Royce. : Royce died on December 18, 2003, after a valiant five-month fight against melanoma. As she did with everything in her life, she faced her cancer with grace and immeasurable strength. She died at home surrounded by family, friends, and her beloved dogs. Royce was born in New York and moved to California………. She left an indelible mark on everyone she encountered. She experienced life with the exuberance and grace. Like a radiant light, she drew everyone’s eyes to her when she walked into a room. Among her many interests, Royce loved doing research on her computer and helped many friends find lost childhood companions. She also loved shopping, especially for shoes. Her extended family was primary in her life as were her animals……………..
Published by County Register on Feb. 1, 2004.
