Searching for a Memory

She had not been expecting a letter. For as long as she could remember, Ellie McKenzy had been searching for her father. Her parents, Carol and Craig McKenzy, married at a young age. As soon as Carol graduated from high school, she began planning her wedding, seeing it as her only way out of her mother's house. Craig had just gotten out of the Navy, and figured marriage was the next logical step. After Ellie was born, they realized that they had never really been in love.

Ironically, Carol and Ellie went back to her mother's. Ellie's grandmother doted on the child, but rarely had a kind word for Carol. Furthermore, she blamed Craig for all the marital problems between them and refused to allow him to see his own daughter. However, he showed up on Ellie's fourth birthday.

Ellie squealed at the sight of her daddy. He gave her a huge teddy bear and a small necklace with a crystal heart pendant. "Ellie", he said as he held her close, "no matter where we go from here, always know that I'm with you in this heart". With that, he kissed his little girl and turned to leave. She begged her daddy not to go, but she was the only one who wanted him there. Carol had hid out in her room, while Grandmother stood watch with a scowl on her face. That was her last memory of him.

Over the years, Ellie dreamed of finding her father. She went through hundreds of websites, library transcripts, and anything else that might help her. Yet, every lead she found became another dead end. Then she came across a McKenzy family website. She knew that it was a rather common name, but decided to give it a shot.

She found it amazing that there were over a hundred Craig McKenzy's listed, but none of them her father. Ellie joined the forums and talked to anyone who might be related to her father. But again, she only found dead ends. Thinking she had depleted another resource, she left the site and continued on with her search.

Years went by and still nothing. Soon, her mother passed away, taking her last remaining link to Craig. All she had now was a tiny crystal pendant. Though the chain had broken years before, she could still hear her father's words when she held it. That tiny heart made her start her search once again. She went back through her notes and revisited several of the websites she'd been to before, including the McKenzy family site.

She met a lady named Monica, who was looking for an aunt that had also been put up for adoption. As their conversation continued, Ellie realized that Craig and Monica's aunt were siblings. The two became close and would send each other new information as they found it, either through the Internet, or via postal mail.

One morning, Ellie went to get the mail and found an interesting letter. She assumed that it was from Monica, but there was no forwarding address on it, only hers. She stopped right there on the sidewalk and tore it open. She knew that this was something important and felt the hairs on her arm stand up.

As she opened the letter, her eyes immediately darted to the bottom of the page. There, she saw the name she'd waited a lifetime to see. She wanted to run inside to read the letter, but her legs wouldn't move. So, she sat down on her front steps and opened it.

"Dear Ellie,

I hope this is going to the right person, and if so, this is your father. I was told that you've been looking for me, and I want you to know that nothing in this world has made me happier. I've wanted to contact you for a long time, but never knew if you wanted to hear from me. I've added my phone number to the bottom of this letter if you want to call me. I'd love to hear from you, and I've missed you all these years.

Love,
Daddy

P.S.
Tell your friend Monica thank you."

Ellie pulled her knees up to her face and cried. A mass of emotions filled her mind, wondering if she was ready to take this next step. This was it, the moment she'd waited for most of her life. Now, apprehension kept her from going back in the house and making that call.

Finally, she gained her composure and went inside. With letter in hand, she dialed the number and listened as the phone rang. After the third one, and man's voice answered. "Hello?"

She paused for a moment, then said in a quiet tone, "Daddy, it's Ellie".