EPISODE 13

Now to get to how I discovered my mother’s side of the family. Again, my brother Bill managed to help me get this information – at least a last name. After doing some research, we found it could be one of four women. Again, I put out feelers on the internet and another forum turned up a reply from a daughter of a cousin. She was a lovely young lady who said she was sure her parents wouldn’t mind if I contacted them. I asked her to pave the way for me and to send them my email. I got a reply right away and my cousin told me his father kept in touch with my mother and said her name and that he would talk to his father. Emails back and forth some more and(I believe he was my uncle) got in touch and told me about my birth mother.

He put us in touch and she wrote to me and called. She and I continued to correspond for close to a year, but it was difficult for her to let anyone know about me and couldn’t talk when other people were around. I understood, but it was difficult to feel like a dirty little secret, so I regretfully wrote her and told her about these feelings and that I would respect her privacy if that’s what she wanted. I’m sure it was a strain on her too. I never heard from her again, but the others DID keep in touch. My birth mother had Alzheimer’s, they told me.

A strange fact (for me, at least) is that this family lived in the same town as I grew up in, and also my brother Bill from my birth father’s side. Musta been something in the water.

I have done the family tree for my birth mother’s side of the family. We are Dutch and go back to France, Belgium, and the Plantagenets in England. I will tell you a couple of interesting stories that resulted from that search next time.