This new year finds me involved in a new and challenging project. It's one that has been lying on the surface since 1971, and it's just now begun. It's not something that I procrastinated about. It's actually a project which belongs to a friend of mine whom I met in that year. Since that time we've talked about it from time to time, and for many reasons have put it on the back burner. It isn't one that I could have taken on alone, but it is something I am willing to give every ounce of my being to in assisting her.
So it has begun....the search for her birth mother. With very little information in her possession, we step out in faith that our efforts will fall in the right places, and new clues and facts will show up. We've already found just the right person, a volunteer 'angel' who has knowledge and experience about how to go about these searches and the agencies and folks out there who should be contacted. She has had successes in finding birth mothers and birth children. So this trio of women go forth with confidence and hopeful that things will result in good things.
We are about to begin opening doors to the past. That is a bit scary for my friend. When one opens the unknown, it could go any which way. Since she's not, at the moment, concerned about meeting her birth mother, but wants to know other information for health and heritage reasons, it isn't as frightening for to enter this endeavor, knowing that she could be rejected. But, there is always a possibility that we won't find her answers, which would be a huge disappointment. On the other hand, there is a real chance that we will find answers! There is an assortment of "what if's " associated with that scenerio, as well. There could be genetic or health issues that might not be what one would hope for, but would still be very important knowledge to have.
The also might be siblings that she has on idea of right now. She finds that to be an interesting thought, but again is not sure she wants to meet or know them. These potential relatives might not be people she would care to know.
The search is on, and we will progress as we can. Hopefully my friend will be able to ride out the emotional roller coaster until the end of the line. I can't imagine the depth of her trepidation and her excitement. She was brought up in a home with loving adoptive parents, but there's always been the question about who she really is. Noone shared her birth information with her, and had she not stumbled over the name of her birth mother and the hospital in which she was born, she'd be forever in that state of limbo. Her adoptive parents have both passed away, and the files and paperwork that they might have owned was destroyed by her stepmother.
This will be a challenging effort, and hopefully one that has a happy ending. In any event, our reconnection through a social network, after years of being physically distant has been a great thing. We can "speak" every day, and working together on this project has brought us into a new level in our friendship, drawing us closer. We wander into this 'unknown', holding on to each other for encouragement and support, and I'm glad to be sharing this with her, no matter how it turns out.
