My Short Life....My Long Story

My life began very complicated. I have always wondered who I am and why my life wasn't exactly *normal*....whatever normal means. I guess that explains why I am very particular about the way things are done....I don't like mistakes and I believe in accepting responsibilty for all of your actions.

On April 16, 2009 my life changed for what I now hope is FOREVER.....I knew the lovely brick wall that I've built for 32 years had to be removed. I was ready for a remodeling job, it's more like a demolotion ........I was ready to face my fears, find the truth and more than ever know WHO I AM? I planned on going to meet my biological dad and hope for some answers. At 11 pm.....I googled his name and to my surprise learned he had just passed away in March. My heart immediately sank ....all feelings of hope, answers, and anything else that I wanted were instantly gone. I reluctantly clicked on the link to the obit, not expecting to see anything that I didn't already know.

To my surprise there were 2 boys listed as children. My name wasn't listed but I didn't expect it to be. I had never heard of these boys. The whole night I researched these 2 names....I always knew that I had an older sister and I started looking very hard for her too. It seemed I could find nothing on any of them except 1.

I asked myself 100 questions...well, really more like 10,000.

Do they know about me?

Did our father raise them?

How old are they?

What do they look like?

Are we alike personality wise?

Do we like the same things?

Are they married? Children?

The list went on and on.....the final question I had to ask myself was, "Should I call them?"....."What do I say?"......"What if they don't believe me?"....."What if they don't want to know me?" Anyway, you get the picture.

Friday afternoon I made the call to the only sibling out of 3 that I could find a phone number for.

A very nice lady answered the phone....I was expecting the worst scenerio but she was gracious to answer my questions and give the message to her husband who would be my brother.

Friday night....a few hours later, my life changed. I spoke to a BROTHER. His name is Gerald aka Doodle. I was happy, giddy, and relieved to know after our conversation that I wasn't alone. He has a brother named Bruce aka Dobber. Over the past 3 weeks, I've got to know Doodle and Dobber over emails and phone calls. I was able to get contact info on my sister, Kathy. April 16-17 was one of the best days of my life.....full of ANSWERS! I had been wondering the answers for the past 32 years....The quest was over. In those 24 hours I made contact with 2 brothers and 1 sister....had very nice conversations on the phone, exchanged pics, and began the *getting to know you* process. We all have some of the same characteristics. ....none of us are alike but we're all very close in comparison.

Over the past 3 weeks, we finally settled on a date to meet. My brothers were taking vacations to the mountains and had to come into T-town to get there. They came a day early so we could meet and spend some time together. I haven't been able to meet my sister Kathy yet but I will make sure that happens soon.

May 6,2009 has marked a new era of my life.....the puzzle is *almost* complete. I say almost because I have to meet Kathy and there are some indications that there may be a couple of more siblings. I don't know if they want to be found but it's worth a try. I think we all deserve to know our siblings during our life. It's intresting to see what genes and traits were passed down and see our similarities.

The broken puzzle which took 32 years to put together is nearly complete.

Here are pics of my newfound family. I will never loose contact with my brothers or my sister, NEVER AGAIN! I will never forget May 6-7, 2009. It's etched into my mind like giving birth to my children. I have to meet my sister for the puzzle to be complete.

All in all...I have 2 brothers....ages 46 and 44.

1 sister ......age 52

1 sister in law...I think she's 35

2 nephews.....16 yrs and 21 yrs old

3 nieces.....18 yrs old, 6 yrs old, and 3 yrs, old

Here are pics from yesterday.....whew! I was nervous and pretty quite...I just sat back to take it all in....very overwhelming in the emotions department.

It was all great....a wonderful 18 hours well spent. As I drove home this morning tears poured from my eyes. It was tears of joy...Life is good.....God is good..... I couldn't help but to thank God for making the puzzle fit together. I hope that they were as impressed with me as I was them.

Hopefully more fun times ahead! Now for building some memories together and meeting my sister. The rest will take care of itself.

Thanks for reading my story...my life....my memories!