Winter breaks are great times to relax, work extra hours, ski or snowboard and just have a good time out of school. However, this past winter break, I decided to fill a void I’ve been feeling my whole life. It’s hard to explain this certain void because most of you reading this have known your biological parents; I have not. So, thanks to the magic of Google and Facebook, I found the one person who could fill this void. No, not only did I find the one person, I found a whole extended family that has loved me my whole life.
Since I was a child, I knew I was adopted. My mom would show me pictures of my birth mom eight months pregnant with me. I always had the support of my mom to find my birth mom. However, I had no idea how much I’d gain from this experience. I have never felt so much love in my life. I feel whole after this whole experience. By this I mean I feel like I have a better understanding of where I come from that I didn’t have before. My mom knows how much I love her and appreciate everything she’s done for me. This was just a journey I needed to make and I’m glad I did.
If you haven’t figured by now, I found my birthmother; in addition, I found out I’m an older, half sister to three siblings. When I started this journey, I thought it would take so much more than searching my birthmother’s name on Google.com, then searching her married name on Facebook to find her. I sent her a message on Facebook saying that she might be my birthmother, and well, if not, then ignore this message. Mind you, this was three days before Christmas and I do hope that, like myself, this was a great Christmas present for my long, lost family.
Just to make mention, my birthfather is not one I’m concerned about finding; as nice as it would be to know him, I’m not too disheartened by the fact that it’s just not probable. From my knowledge, he was a foreign exchange student studying at a university in Chicago. I, nor my birth mom, have a name to go off beside, “David.”
After figuring out we are in fact related, I chatted on the phone and Facebook chat a couple of times with my birthmother and half sister; we all decided we wanted to meet each other in person. Since they live on the east side of Ohio, we decided to meet up in Toledo, thinking it’s about half way between us.
The first day of the year I met my birthmother, her husband, my half-sister and one of my half-brothers. I was raised an only child, so to think I have siblings takes some time to digest. At first, we sat in a coffee shop not really knowing what to talk about, so we decided to just walk around and the conversation started to flow. There was no sequence in our topics of conversation, but no one cared; however, I had a few questions I’m sure most take for granted. For example, I wanted to know about her delivery and pregnancy with me. She told me that every time she had a contraction, my heart would stop beating. I never knew that.
About two hours in, we had some lunch and decided to go our separate ways, with intentions to keep talking and to see each other again sooner than later. We talk on the phone or via Facebook messages multiple times a week to stay in touch with one another. So far so good!
See a resemblance?!