Over 2400 miles
Over 85 hours of driving
Seven nights
Six Beds
Spending time with family and friends
Meeting New Family
Priceless
Absolutely Priceless!
*****************
We’ve been back from our Find the Family Road Trip (FFRT) since Sunday, and are still processing all of the wonders of those days. So many of you were praying for us – for both traveling mercies and grace-filled family connections and we thank you! We felt those prayers! God in his kindness gave us days of safe travels, comfortable beds to sleep in, and wonderful times with family (both old and new!) and friends. The primary purpose of this cross-country trip was to meet two of Gary’s birth siblings. Since he was adopted as an infant (though not quite from the hospital as we once thought), he never knew any of his older siblings. The information we had was short and sweet – he had been placed for adoption because his birth father had died before he was born and the mother felt this was the best option for her baby boy. What we have learned since (through these new relationships)is that there were six older siblings – five brothers and one sister. Following the death of their father, they were all placed in care. We may never know if Social Services put them into the orphanage to keep them safe or if Mom (Grace) felt it was the best option given the state of her life. It’s safe to say it was a very messy time for that family. The three older boys (Jack (now deceased), Lou (who we met), and Jim (who we hope to make contact with in the future) were eventually put into foster care on a farm in Delaware County. The younger four (Georgie, Cleo (renamed Dianne who we also met), Billie, and Robert (renamed Gary) were adopted privately. So far we have no information on Georgie or Billie. But what a joy it was to meet Lou and Dianne!
We left Big Sandy (TX) on Sunday the 15th after church.
We reached the Atlantic Ocean (Myrtle Beach) a 2:39 on Tuesday the 17th.
Gotta love Myrtle Beach!
But we didn’t drive to the ocean to see the ocean. We came to meet Gary’s older brother, Lou!
And what a lovely meeting it was! We joined Lou and his daughter Karla for dinner and spent the entire meal sharing stories!
Mostly we were interested in Lou’s stories since he was old enough to have good memories of Gary’s birth family (he was 11 when he went into ‘care’). He confirmed that Gary had indeed come to the orphanage before he was adopted because he remembers being called to change his diapers! He also stayed in touch with his brothers who had been in foster care with him and also their mom over the years (she died in 1997). While he’s not in touch with any of them at the moment, he was able to share many of their growing-up stories. It was such a special visit! One that we hope we can repeat in the months to come!
We also had a sweet visit with Dianne (born Cleo) on Friday, who lives in an assisted living facility near Asheville, NC.
While she doesn’t have clear memories of life before she was adopted (at age 5), she has always been interested in her birth family, and her daughter, Kathy, is largely responsible for making all of these connections. She and her husband are the true heroes of this family story as they have spent many hours tracking down Dianne’s birth family.
While the impetus of this road trip was definitely to Find the Family, we were blessed to make some additional connections along the way. The two nights we were in the Myrtle Beach area we stayed with a couple we hadn’t seen in probably 30 years. I had been her Pioneer Girl Guide back in the day, and we had remained friends through Facebook. What a treat to spend time with her and her hubby (even though he missed the picture!) in their lovely home!
From MB we headed north and west to spend the night at my nephew’s house before going in to meet Dianne. Along the way, we were able to enjoy lunch with a sweet friend and her new husband!
We met Trish in PA 40+ years ago, visited her in California about 15 years ago, and then in Texas, and now in the Carolinas. She’s as hard to keep up with as we are! But it was a delight to share a meal with her and meet her new love!
And then an overnight with the nephew and family! No family pictures, but a delicious meal and then a rousing couple of games of Go Fish
made for a wonderful evening! (Especially once they helped Gary & me off the floor!)
The next morning we were off to meet Dianne, and from there we turned a little south to spend the night with our high school (!!!) friends, Jeff and Esther, in Clemson, SC! OK, we were friends with them after high school too, but Jeff and his date double-dated with Gary and me to Gary’s Sr. Prom (circa 1968). The best of ‘old’ friends!
Still processing these new family connections and I’m sure I still have words to write about this journey – but that’s it for tonight! Thanks for coming along – and for those many prayers!
I get goosebumps on my goosebumps reading this story. Steph you should really really really think about writing a book about this……..Hallmark would love to sink their teeth in it! Gary has got to be overwhelmed at this point. A thousand questions swirling in his mind when he goes to bed at night. Tell me again how it all started – ancestry links?????