17 years ago, when I was 3 years old, my sister and I were taken out of our home and put into foster care. The circumstances of it all was a bit messy. When the system found us a good foster home (after a few tries), we started to have visits with our parents. After only a few weeks, they both ended up going to jail. One, only several days, the other, received several years.
Then things started looking up for us. Someone wanted to adopt my sister and I. Our next door neighbors actually. They had been praying and praying, and had practically everyone they knew, praying for two little girls to adopt. And there we were :) So when I was in first grade, I was adopted along with my sister. Getting adopted along with siblings is a rare occasion in adoption cases because often, parents only want one at a time, so the brothers and sisters get split up, never to see each other again.
So, here we are 17 years later. I have 3 months till I turn 20. Am I excited??? YESSS!!! But I also have another story to tell....
Winter break of this last year.... I did alot of sitting around the house. I didn't have a car, and most of my friends had already gone back to school (my school had given us 5 WEEKS off for break)... Hey, did ya think I minded?? Nope. Anyway, so most of the stuff I did involved drawing, playing on my computer, and watching a ridiculous amount of t.v.. But then, in the mention of one phrase, one little tidbit of information, my life took a turn...
But first, a little background information, my sister, who most of you know, Kerri, is actually not my full blooded sister. She is only my half, but I would tell anyone in an instant that it doesn't matter in the least. We share the same biological mother, but not the same father. When we were going through all the court stuff years ago, a blood test proved it. Ok, that is all, now back to the story.
So, one day, my sister comes home after a day with hanging out with my Aunt Michelle. She comes over to me and says,
"Kelli, do you know what Michelle told me today??"
"No... what did she say?" I replied.
"She says she thinks Scott has a Facebook!"
Ok, another background info stop. My biological father's name is Scott. My aunt Michelle used to go to school with him, and her husband actually worked with him when we were still living with him and our mother. Ok I'm done.. for now... ;)
I just stare at her... then I roll my eyes,
"Nu huh. She did not."
"Kelli! Yeah she did!" Kerri looked annoyed that I thought she was lying... haha.
"Ok fine. Then I'm looking him up." So I did. Nope. There was no Scott Background: When all the adoption stuff was going on, Kerri and I had a social worker. She made us each something called a "Life Book". This was a big thick photo album filled with tons of photos of our foster family that we grew to love very quickly, and our now, mom and dad, Tracy and Cathy. It also included about ten or so pictures of our mother and mine included a few of Scott. So when I say none of them resembled Scott, it's because I had pictures to look at, not because my memory was so vivid. Go read!
After I got done checking Facebook, I pretty much went "Oh well". But only so Kerri would think I didn't really care or that I wasn't going to look anymore. HA! Yeah right.
That night, I stayed up practically all night searching FB up and down, searching his name over and over again, and even threw in his brother's name, which my aunt Michelle had also gone to school with, but I didn't know what he looked like so that didn't help much. Then...... I remembered something.... good ol' Myspace :))) Yeah, you know you had one. Anyway, I decided to search there. BINGOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! My hands were shaking as I held my little ipod touch and was scrolling down the page. My eyes spotted one of the profile pictures. And if there is one thing I'm good at, it is knowing faces. (Part of being an artist probably). I clicked on it and started going through the pictures. There were only like, 3. One of them was a pretty good clear one. I wasn't positive it was him, so I ran and grabbed my Life Book, opened it to the one clear photo I had.... His mugshot... yeah.... ANYWAY. So, I did the smart and scientific thing any logical person with the slightest ability to see anything at all, and started to compare the bone structure from each picture, the shape of the nose, the tilt of the ears, size of the mouth... it was.. a match. I. Flipped. Out. I had found my biological father. and it had taken less than 12 hours.
Long story short, I did some googling found some names that were associated with his on a "reunion.com" website, and ended up finding my biological grandfather's work phone number, and I called it. He said he remembered me, and gave me another number to call. It was Laurie, Scott's girlfriend. I called her and she told me that they had just broken up, but that she would have him contact me when she saw him next. She really sweet and handled the shock pretty well, because when I introduced myself with my real name, she kinda gasped, and said that Scott had told her about me.... then, that night when I was watching t.v.. Laurie called me back... and I found out, I have two older brothers!!!! But that is another story. Ok, so... I didn't get a call from Scott while I was still on winter break. But about 2 weeks or so back into college life, I did. Scott's brother, who I mentioned earlier, actually found me and started texting me back and forth and he was the one who told Scott that I had found him and wanted to make contact or whatever. So...... we did. We texted, we talked on the phone, we skyped once... It was pretty cool....
The reason for this story is that.... in about 2 hours or so, I am going to be meeting my biological father, in person, for the first time in over 17 years. I am nervous as a freaking....... um.... whatever is the most nervous thing ever. Lindsey Rich is going with me to meet him. She is so awesome to help me with this. :))
