Today was one of those days that you are not prepared for. One of those days where something happens that is so unbelievable, you could not have possibly imagined it transpiring no matter how hard you tried – but you are forever grateful that it did.

For today was Sandy’s Great Uncle Harry’s and Great Aunt Florence’s sixtieth wedding anniversary. A day that marks a very important and special day in her family’s history. So I went to Carolina’s restaurant with Sandy to celebrate this special occasion knowing how much this day meant to her and her family – having no clue that it would have more of an impact on mine.

When we arrived at Carolina’s, I was introduced to Sandy’s relatives who were on hand for the party. Being the first time they met me, they no doubt had questions for Sandy. What do I do? Where was I born? Where do I live? One of her relatives, a man by the name of Ken who is married to her cousin Michelle, asked Sandy what I am. Sandy replied by saying that I am half Jewish and half Italian. He told her that I looked Italian, and Sandy replied by saying that with the last name Wein, it was hard to pass for an Italian. Upon hearing my last name, he informed Sandy and I that he grew up with someone with the last name Wein – an “Eddie Wein” as he put it. He told us that his friend Eddie lived on Saratoga Avenue in Brownsville and was a skinny guy with a sunken face and a thick head of hair. Astonishingly enough, after a few minutes of exchanging information – we came to the incredible conclusion that his childhood buddy was in fact my father.

Both Ken and I were flabbergasted when we realized the connection we shared. A moment ago, we were strangers who met for the first time, and now – we had something in common that neither of us in our wildest dreams could have imagined or conceived.

As he began to tell me about his memories of my father, my eyes began to fill with tears, because what was happening was something I have prayed for over and over again. Here was someone who knew my father as a child telling me what he was like. Considering the fact that he passed away when I was nine, I do not have that much knowledge of the man, just the father. I remember the kind of parent he was to me – but I don’t know anything about the kind of person he was. What was he like as a teenager? How old was he when he got his first kiss? Did he have a lot of friends growing up? – Today, I was lucky enough to get some answers to these questions I have been dying to have answered for the past nineteen years – how amazing and unexpected that it would come from a member of Sandy’s family.

He told me that my father was a very confident, self assured, young man who he looked up to as a mentor. He said that when they were friends, my father always seemed to have the answers. Ken said that as the older of the two, my father would always give him the advice he was looking for when it came to the concerns of growing up – and most importantly – my father was one of his best friends.

Thanks to Ken, I now not only know Edward Wein the father – I now know a little about Edward Wein the man.

I will be forever grateful to Ken for giving me some insight into my father. Even though it has been close to twenty years since he is gone – I still miss him as if he passed away yesterday.

But today – he feels a little closer.