THE GOOD - THE BAD - THE UGLY

The next few parts to this story have been edited from four articles originally written for the newspaper of a small Washington town where I lived. MANY years had passed and now, after my unrelenting years of detective work, tears and frustruation, things had actually paid off!

PLEASE READ ON . . .

There are many types of journeys that people take in a lifetime, but few are as exciting or as fulfilling as a journey of discovery. The unknown factors which come to light in such a journey are incredibly tantalizing to one’s senses. The journey will most certainly awaken new and often raw emotions. At least that is how my own personal Journey of Discovery affected me.

At two years of age I was adopted. The story goes that I had been abandoned by my parents. I was found sitting on a doorstep, not of someone else’s home or a church, but at my own home - the original "Home Alone" scenario! The local sheriff picked me up and took me to safety until arrangements could be made for my care.

The couple who adopted me spent a couple of weeks fishing at a nearby resort every summer. They heard the story of my plight, and it touched their hearts. They decided a green-eyed, curly-haired little girl would be a nice addition to their lives and I came to live with them.

My journey through childhood was fairly normal and uneventful. Fast forward to age 18 and my new journey as an adult. This journey was much more colorful and eventful, sadly not always with the best results, but I truly believe that “whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” as the saying goes.

I had always known I was adopted. Not many details were ever shared because of the unsavory circumstances from which I had been rescued. At the age of 18, now on my own, I began my Journey of Discovery. Upon trying to enlist the services of an attorney to help me, the door was quickly and firmly slammed shut. You see, adoption records were sealed in my home state, and I need written permission from my birth parents to have them unsealed. (That seemed pretty stupid to me! They gave me up, why would they even care?)

Problem #1: I didn’t have a clue who they were!

Problem #2: No one I knew was talking . . . end of story!

Well . . . not quite!

I did not have the resources or expertise to launch a man hunt to find anyone from my past – Oprah, Maury, and Montel were not even around yet to help me. Although at 18 it seemed I had hit a dead end, my curiosity was never appeased. Thoughts of “who, what, when, where and why" plagued me throughout my adult life. Fantasies appeared and disappeared as I tried to fill in the blanks alone. My relationship with my adopted parents deteriorated and communication ceased, but that is another story all of its own, for another time, and still has the final chapter yet to be written.

Let’s fast forward once more to age 38. Now a single mom of two delightful sons, I applied for a position with Motorola in Phoenix, AZ. Due to the nature of the work, I was required to pass an intense background security check. One of the questions asked was the names of my parents. Another question was: were they my natural parents or adopted parents? I marked adopted – that was no secret. About a week later I received notice that I would have to provide proof that my adoption had been legal. Hmmm, how would I ever do that? I didn’t know any of the details.

Needless to say, I needed to contact my adopted parents for that information, and they were highly insulted that I had revealed “the family secret,” and very reluctantly, with much harsh reproof, my adopted father provided me with the paperwork I needed. To my surprise and delight, the paperwork gave me my first clue into my past – the actual names of my birth parents. Those papers revved my engine, and I began the next leg of my journey. After years in a maze of dead ends, I had begun to think that maybe I actually had been delivered by that infamous stork we all have heard stories about. I didn’t even know what nationality I was!

BUT . . . my story continues . . .

That happened sometime in the 1980's. After hours, days, weeks, months and years of searching every avenue I could think of on my own, I caught a break! And by 2012, resources had so much improved through the years and the internet was like liquid gold when you are looking for answers.

There were ancestry sites, genealogy groups and public records at your fingertips. Occasionally you need human assistance and I thank God for the ones I found that were willing to be helpful. I had eventually gotten my adoption records unsealed because of a wonderful woman in the county clerk's office, who interceded for me with the court system. The records held a wealth of information and filled me with an excitement I can't even explain.

At this time I was 63 years old and almost everyone from my childhood was dead - except one person! I had a lead to a living blood relative - and she was my baby sister! There had been a handwritten note in the records which merely mentioned the last name of the family who had taken care of her and eventually adopted her.

THE RACE WAS ON - I finally had an actual lead and I was on fire!

To be continued . . .