Found Me

It is true that your past always catches up with you. That is what I thought this afternoon when I got an envelope at work addressed to me from Planned Parenthood. A few thoughts went through my head. The first thing was a feeling of embarrassment. In my very conservative office, it is rare to get mail from such a polarizing entity. It is also because I cameo from a generation in which everyone knew what PP was, but nobody really talked about it. It was the same way with "having your period". Everyone knows, but you pretend like it is perfectly normal to take your purse with you to the bathroom.

Then I wondered if I still owed them some money and how they found me after all these years. You see, Planned Parenthood saved my life. Back in college, something happened to me that I would never wish on anyone and I was too scared and embarrassed to call my mother and tell her and my PCP was out of state. Besides, I had known him forever and I figurede he would tell my mom anyway. So, I went to the one place I knew that I could get help and be anonymous. I went to Planned Parenthood.

They gave me an exam, took blood, pap, and answered all my questions. They never made me feel awkward or like a bad person. They never questioned my status as a victim. They just treated me like a patient and more importantly, they treated me like an adult. They are the one who wrote me the Rx for my souvenir of that terrible night and they let me know they were there should I ever need them again.

I will always be grateful to them, but I was pretty sure that I had paid for those services and that was at least a decade ago. I have gotten married and changed my name since then. I have moved at least three times since then. How on earth could they have found me? What kind of Google search did they do to locate me? Is the new head of collections a former CIA agent? Is this the billing version of "Cold Case". I got tired of speculating and decided to open the letter.

In it I found a letter instead of a bill and it outlined all the ways people in government and religious organizations are coming against them and preventing them from performing the same services that helped me all those years ago. I was amazed. I just cannot understand why people would want to do that. I realized that I have to do something to give back to the organization that did so much for me.

They gave me hope me hope during one of my darkest times (something for which I will always be grateful). The least I can do is give a check. The thing is, I had almost forgotten all about them until I got that letter.

Funny how the past never seems to stay behind.