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| Miracles Happen The Story of How Siblings Separated for a Lifetime Found Each Other |
| Web Site Author Dana Gomez |
| Judy's Story How She Found Rose My mom always told us the babies she did not bring home from the hospital had died. Even though our one sister Linda always said they were out there. I never believed her, as I always felt in my heart that my Mom would have told me the truth. I was the oldest and I had a close relationship with my Mom. My sister Margie finally convinced me with birth certificates of the babies. Also my Mom confided in Margie and my other sister Mary Ellen. I was then on a mission to find our missing siblings. I was new to the computer, but I gained lots of knowledge and practice through my online search. I just felt so drawn to those web sites. I'd spend hours every evening just searching adoption web sites. I put our info out there hoping by chance, I'd get a match. I felt like giving up so many times. Then I would read a reunion story and think it can happen. I had been at this for many, many months. Then, Lord and behold my computer crashed and I lost all my web sites I had visited. I was so upset, my good friend Nita came over and got me going again. I went to Adoption.com and the web site indicated I would have to register again. I began filling out the information, and as I put in my sister Rose's birthday, as I had hundreds of times before, it flashed across the screen that I had a match. I went to her profile. The information she had put out there was all the things I knew about her birth. I thought my heart was going to jump out of my chest. I am known to be quite excitable. Then, just by chance, my cell phone started ringing. I nearly broke my neck running to the dining room to answer my phone. It was my daughter-in-law, Kim. I was very excited as I told her of how I had found my sister. She told me to calm down and she asked me where she lived. Well, I had forgotten to even check that. It turned out she lived in Texas. That was even greater news, as I have no siblings in Texas, they are all in California. Kim made the phone call for me as I would never have been able to handle calling. Rose then called me a short time later. It was like a voice from heaven. I cannot put into words the feelings I had. Rose then put through a three way phone call with our youngest sister, Margie. I feel God has truly blessed and touched our lives by our finding Rose. My advice to anyone out there searching for a loved one is never give up, it can happen. We have one more sibling out there still to find. I don't know how or when, but we will reunite. I cannot tell you how down I would get and how I would think I was wasting my time. But something always pulled me back to the computer. I thank God I never gave up. I am feeling like that right now In my search for my brother, but it will pass and I will get going again. I hope our story will be an inspiration to all of you out there searching. I wish I could help every one of you so you could experience what our family has experienced. May God bless you as he has blessed our family. Judy Bassett Linda’s Story I have always been known as the queen of gossip in the family. Through the years, I have had conversations with the family about the possibility of us having other siblings out there besides the six of us that were raised together. Although no one really seemed to believe me, I knew in my heart that the possibility definitely existed. Here’s the story as I remember it…. My parents were married in 1945 in a small town in Wyoming and by 1949 had three children, including myself. In 1955, my parents decided to move to San Clemente, California and in 1956, my Mother had a stillborn baby. The following year, my Mother had my sister Mary Ellen. My Mother then had another baby, but there were complications and the baby only lived a few days. In 1959, my Mother was pregnant again. However, this time she did not come home from the hospital with any children. When I asked about it, I was told that the baby had died. Being the little snoop that I was, I found a picture from the hospital and it turned out there had actually been twins; a boy and a girl. I also remember my Mother having telephone conversations about “the twins” and adoption. Later, I also realized that if the children had passed away, the hospital would not have taken pictures of them. In 1960, it was a dé ja vu – my Mother was pregnant again, went to the hospital to have the baby and came home alone. Again, we were told that the baby, a boy, had died. My mother turned up pregnant again in 1961 and this time brought home a beautiful baby boy, our brother Kenny. Then, in 1963, my Mother had our youngest sister, Margie. Over the years, I’ve tried to put pieces of the puzzle together. I’m not sure why Mom decided on adoption, but whatever the case was, I’m just so fortunate about having met my sister Rose (the girl twin). I was a little uneasy about talking to Rose for the first time. I was not sure what to talk about, but after hearing her voice on the phone, it felt like she had always been a part of my life. I just wish we would have had the chance to meet our brother Monty (Rose’s twin). I’m happy that the two of them were raised together. At least, Rose can share her memories of Monty with us. I look forward to someday meeting our missing brother. Hopefully, then our family will be truly reunited. Linda Mercado Mary’s Story When I found out Margie had found the names of our sister and brother on the Internet, I just knew we were getting closer to finding them. Then I received that phone call on October 1, 2002. I was very excited, and I told my daughters that they found our sister Rose. I could not wait to hear her voice and speak to her on the phone; I could not wait to see a picture of her and Monty. Everyone else saw Rose’s picture before me. I do not have the Internet, and they told me she looked like me when I was in my 20’s. When I saw the picture, I could not believe my eyes. Then when Margie and I saw Monty’s picture, we screamed because he looked so much like Margie. I was so disappointed when I found out he was not alive. I wish I could have met him. It was a joy to see Rose, but an empty feeling was still there because we were not able to see Monty too. When I was speaking to Rose on the phone, as she described herself, I just knew she was our sister. She remembered Mrs. Lancaster, which was our connection to the truth. I had a strong feeling that we would find our siblings, but I had no idea it was going to come sooner than I expected. If anything, we thought Rose would be the last one to be found, because we thought she would be harder to find knowing her name would change if and when she got married. We also have this belief, if God wanted it to happen, it would happen! Thank God! Mary Ellen Coley Margie's Story My mother had eleven children. I always believed growing up that five died at birth, listening to my mother repeat the story over and over. My oldest sister, Judy is sixteen years older than me. My mother had always told her the same story; the children died at birth. I guess our mother was to embarrassed about the truth. When I was in my 20's, my mother finally admitted to me that three of the five actually lived and were given up for adoption. Once I got the Internet in 2000, I started to search the web for birth records. I came across a web site that had my mother's information and information on six of her children born in California. I now had names and birthdays of the adopted children. I just knew I could not stop there. In 2001, Judy got hooked on the Internet. I told her the children were alive, but she still believed what mother had always told us about the babies having died at birth. I finally convinced my sister when I mailed her the information I had found during my online search. I also mailed her copies of her own children's birth records I pulled from the same web site, so she could see it was legitimate. Margie Gutierrez Rose's Story I had no idea what impact a single phone call can make in one's life. I don't think I'll ever forget where I was or what I was doing at 9:36 pm the night of October 1, 2002. I was sitting at my computer, on the Internet, when the phone rang. I had no idea that my sister, Judy, was doing exactly the same thing just minutes before. She had been reading a profile I had posted on Adoption. com over two years prior. My husband, Mike, tells me that I turned white as a sheet as I sat listening to what my niece, Kim, was telling me. I still can't remember what I asked her or if I was even making sense. All that was going through my mind was "Oh my God, I REALLY do have brothers and sisters out there!" The love I felt for them was instantaneous. I didn't even think twice about it, I just felt it. When I spoke to each of them for the first time, it was like talking to an old friend, no uneasiness, no awkward moments of silence, the conversation just flowed. The laughter was natural; the impulse to give a hug was as easy as breathing. Saying, " I love you" after each phone conversation was as easy as saying "hello". Rosalyn Gilreath Morelock |