FINDING DAVID

Almost 47 years ago, I gave birth to a baby boy.  I was just 16 and was forced to give that child up for adoption.  Twenty some years later, I was contacted by Lutheran Social Services in Minneapolis, Minnesota saying only that my child had been adopted.  I had no clue where, when or anything and letters to them went unanswered.

In the 1980's, adoption files were opened for birth parents to search.  I only posted in the passive registry because I did not want to disrupt anyone's life.  I wanted to be found if I was being searched for.

On Friday, March 6, 2014, I had a friend request from a Stefani on Facebook.  I ignored it as I did not know her.  The next day, March 7, 2014, I had an email from her.  She explained that her husband, David, had been searching for his birth mother for years.  They thought the information I had posted matched.  They did not have an exact birthday for David but because it was with three days of the date of my child's birth, they contacted me.

The rest is history.   Upon seeing pictures of David, there was no doubt he was my son.  He had documents from Lutheran Services too.  He had no idea how he, being born in North Vancouver, BC, ended up in Minneapolis.  He was adopted at eleven months old.

Until very late on Friday, Stefani and I talked by Facebook chat.  All the pieces fell into place.  We invited Jason, my son born of the same father three years after David's birth, into the conversation.  Jason and David have bonded unbelievably, joking back and forth.  The next night, the conversation grew.  We invited Glenn, David and Jason's father into the conversation as well as Graeme, David's half brother and Jennifer his half sister on the other side.

We joked and laughed.  We exchanged information.  Weird - none of us drink coffee; David hasn't had grandparents since 1983 and now he has a grandfather on my side and a grandmother on the other side;  he is a Pepsi addict like us; on and on.

David and his wife are thrilled.  We are beyond happy.  His adopted father is happy for him and grateful that I kept trying.  The cousins, aunts and uncles and even my father are all happy for us.

Welcome David, Stefani, Elizbeth (Lizzy) and Nickolas.