Rhea's Reunion

In 1967 I was 15 and found myself pregnant. I knew like a lot of other girls that I wasn't ready to raise a child, so I went to Florence Crittenton home in Terre Haute, Indiana and my son was born in May of 1968. I was not allowed to see him when he was born but I knew he was healthy and that I was doing the best thing possible for him. I sometimes feel I left behind my childhood when he was born because I had to do something that no 16 year old should have to do alone. Over the years I have often wondered what had become of him and if he was well cared for and loved. I had asked my social worker to please tell his adoptive parents that I loved him when I left the hospital after his birth.

For all of the years after his birth there was an empty, lost place in my heart. So in 1996 I decided it was time to look for him. Medical reasons were my main reason for looking for him and I also have to admit very selish motives. I was diagnosed in February of 1996 with a very rare bone marrow cancer and I was afraid that I would die and never find him so I put my information into the ISSR. This way he would know that I had not forgotten him and if he searched for me and I was no longer living, at least he could find the rest of our family.

I was luckly enough to have an identical twin sister who became my bone marrow donor and in October of 1996 (our 45th birthday by the way) I had my transplant. In February of 1997 I started looking in earnest for my son. I tried to find all the information from Indiana where he was born but wasn't given any information. So in July of 1998 I came to my first Search Triad meeting and found out how to go about searching. As it finally turned out I had to petition the courts of Indiana and have the attorney general for the state of Indiana release my sealed records. I also was required to hire a CI to read my records and contact my son. This was the hardest wait of all, and the fear he wouldn't want any contact with me. As luck would have it, the CI I used was wonderful. He found my son in just a few days and my son David signed the release papers the same day he received them. He did tell me he was really shocked to get the mail out of the box and see a return address for the State of Indiana. He knew it was his birth mother trying to contact him, and he was very nervous but also very happy. I finally received the release papers and low and behold, attached to the back of the signed papers was a picture of my son. I can't begin to tell you how I felt at seeing the child I had wondered about all those years in the flesh. He looked so much like me I was in shock.

I was then presented the problem of telling my 78 year old father. I finally just handed him a kleenex and told him I had something to tell him. I'm sure he thought my cancer was back, but when I handed him the picture he looked at me and I told him this was his grandson. He started crying and the kleenex came in very handy. I wrote a letter to David, but couldn't get the nerve to call him, so he was the first to call. I understand he paced the hall for an hour before he could make that call too. We talked for 3 1/2 hours the first night and made plans to meet. His birthday being in May was a good time for him to come out and gave us time between February when I found him until May to get to know each other a little.

I will never forget the first time I saw him as he got off the plane from Atlanta. He was so tall and good looking. I guess I expected a little baby because thats what I remembered. But, when I put my arms around him for the first time and hugged him it felt like I never wanted to let him go. We hiked the Grand Canyon on his 31st birthday and plan on doing the same this year. We've learned alot about each other in the last year, and for the first time in my life someone calls me MOM. My life has been so blessed with getting my health back and now having the son I never thought I would see. He's a great guy and I know we will always be in each others lives. Like he tells me "I love you mom." Well, the same goes for me... "I love you kid. I hope someday to have grandchildren too. Hee Hee !!!"

Rhea

SEARCH TRIAD Inc.