I FOUND MY SONS ! ! !

The Magic of the Internet

The picture above was taken in San Diego in 1984. That was the last time I saw them all together; almost twenty years ago. Two years ago I put up this web page and asked:

"Do you know any of these guys? Back then, they were just teenagers, except for Tommy. He was my only actual offspring; the others are step and foster sons; but I love them all equally. We haven't had any contact in years and years. But I think of them often.   The purpose of this page is to maybe encourage one or all of them to email me or call me or something.
"From left to right are Somkid Thames, Suwit Thames, Tommy B. Thames and Jack Thames. Back then, they were using the last name of Thames; I don't know if that is still the case or not. When I moved back home to Texas in the early 1980's, it was after what I call my "mid life crisis." My discharge from the Navy was accompanied by divorce, bankruptcy and a fire which burned out the unit where we were living in Murphy Canyon Naval Housing there in San Diego. After all that, I had to go back to my roots in Texas.
"They had the need to stay with their mother in San Diego. I understood that need, but as years went by I heard less and less from them. The last I heard, in the mid-1990's, San Diego was still where they were. But now, I don't know that for sure.
"All of these guys are in their 30's now. Even the youngest,Tommy. For all I know, they could have gone back to Thailand; their mother wanted to do that, I think... I just want to know if they are okay, and what is going on in their lives. Good news, bad news, whatever; I just want some kind of contact again with my sons.
"So this is the World Wide Web, right? My hope is that today's 21st century technology will allow my plea here to be heard and responded to. Even if they all happen to be in Thailand.
"Guys, EMAIL me. It's not like you don't know where I am because you've been to visit here at my Mother's house in Austin, Texas on more than one occasion. And that's where I am, taking care of her now that she's 75 years old.
"I just want to know where you are and what is going on in your lives these days. Please. Tell me. I want to hear from you."

Well, it worked! A friend of Jack's named Jorge had trained in Thai Boxing with him in San Diego. When Jorge saw my web page here, he used the email form and sent me an email with Jack's phone number.

I called him up the next day and had a nice long visit. Jack has a wife and three kids and lives in Las Vegas. Yeah! I got grandkids! He works in a Hospital. He gave me the phone number in San Diego where everyone else was.

He also sent email to Suwit with my web site address. Suwit jumped on it and also sent me the number in San Diego. I called and talked with Tommy and Somkid. Somkid gave me Suwit's cell phone number, so I'll soon be hearing his voice after these many years, too.

So there you have it. And all one does is put their message out on the web and wait. Eventually, reality is created.

James N. Thames
Austin, Texas

There is more to the story. I didn't meet my own father until I was 43. After finding my sons on the Internet in early 2004, I brought him out west to meet them that summer. Click here for more about that.