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Last Sunday when I got to my hotel in College Station, I called home to let them know I had arrived safely. When I called home I was told that I needed to call my mother. She had something REALLY imporant to tell me. So I call.. Can't get a hold of her so I call my sister, Shawna. Shawna tells me.. "you know how a few years ago Mom told us that we had a younger sister that she had put up for adoption.... well she found her ..." I finally got a hold of my mom who tells me the same thing. She said the she and my sister, Shawna had already had the opportunity to talk to her on the phone for a long time arlier that day. Mom said she was really nice and from the desriptions she was giving of herself, it sounded like she and I looked a lot alike.
Well anyway I started e-mailing her and we started communicating like that at first. We finally talked on the phone for a few minutes Thursday afternoon and Friday morning for about an hour. It turns out she lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Well I knew that Friday (yesterday) I was supposed to have a three hour layover in Denver so we were going to try and hook up and meet.
So anyway... my 3 hour layover in Denver turns out not to be so long. We got delayed in Dallas because we were waiting for a lot of passengers from a connecting flight, then they miscounted the luggage and had to figure out that mess . But I finally get to Denver, rush to the ticket gate to check in. I let the lady know that I have to go meet my Sis for the first time and would have to go back through security. This is around 5:45, my flight leaves at 7:10 but she tells me I have to be back for check in no later than 6:45. I am not sure if I can make it.. the going through security bit again has me worried. I wonder if 1 hour is long enough to find my sister, have a few precious minutes with her, go back through security, and make it all the way back to the end to the terminal to my gate. At this point I really don't care. I really don't want to miss my flight, but I can not be this close to her and not meet her. So I head off in search of her at a very fast pace. I get to baggage claim area and I can not find her. I had never been to this part of the airport so we really could not set up a coordinating point. I did tell her that I was wearing a bright red Kansas City Chiefs jersey (I figured how else better to stand out that to wear my "colors" in the heart of Bronco territory!! ). So I find a payphone.. can't figure it out. Find another pay phone.. doesn't have volume. Find another payphone. Put in the wrong calling card number the first time!! ARGH!!! I know that I only have a few minutes!!! At this point let me tell you that I had trying so hard NOT to get too excited about this, I know how things can work with airlines so I knew that we might not be able to hook up. I said trying , I now realized that I did not do a very good job because I was starting to get very upset that we might miss each other .
But ANYWAY, I do finally get though to her. She tells me that we are just around the corner from each other, I am at baggage claim 7 and she is at 6. She tells me just to come around the corner and she will do the same. So we hang up. I walk around the corner and I hear someone say "there you are!!" So we met, we hugged, we cried!!
Guys I can not begin to tell you how wonderful she is. She has a BEAUTIFUL 3 year old daughter. We look so much alike (my sis and I). Well she has dishwater blonde hair and gorgeous green eyes and I have brown hair and eyes. Other than that though.. we have the same facial features.. nose, cheeks, just structure in general. We have the same hair style. We have similar builds. But all of that stuff is genetic stuff. The uncanny thing is that we are SO much alike in so many other ways. We talk alike, and not just similar voices.. she says the same things that I say. We'll be talking, IMing or e-mailing and she'll say something and I'll be like "oh my gosh I say the ALL the time!!" and she does the same with me. Our lives have taken similar paths also. I told her last night (she was online as well as my mom and sister, so we set up a yahoo conference room) that even though we just met I feel such a connection with her. I feel like I have known her all of my life. We only live 6 1/2 hours away from each other so I plan on visiting her often!!
My sister's name is Martha Marie and she is wonderful!!! Posts: 295 | Registered: Jul 2004
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posted
That is an amazing story, babager. Just like something out of "The Parent Trap." But really... that's fantastic.
Posts: 7877 | Registered: Feb 2003
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That is such a beautiful story. I was so afraid you were going to miss her, or miss her and your plane, or just your plane. So, good story structure, too. ha ha.
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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It is really amazing how she was found. My mom had started looking for her in 2000. She posted on several adoption sites. Martha had been looking also but did not have internet. She was told that she was adopted when she was 5 and for her 10th birthday her parents gave her the information that they had about her birth mother. She was in Missouri in 1998 and she said she went through every phone book she found looking for her birth mother. Well she just got a computer and posted her information on one of the adoption sites Sunday. Some of the info was incorrect. She had the first name a little confused my mom's name is Nell Marian and Martha thought it was Mary Ann, and she thought there was an "S" at the end of the last name.
Anyway my mom gets a phone call from a lady that said she thought she found her birth daughter. This lady is an amateur geneologist and her hobby is searching adoption sites and hooking people up. She did not ask for anything, she just enjoys doing it.
Posts: 295 | Registered: Jul 2004
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quote: This lady is an amateur geneologist and her hobby is searching adoption sites and hooking people up. She did not ask for anything, she just enjoys doing it
The world could do with more people like her.
Posts: 327 | Registered: Oct 2003
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I was chatting with my sister today and she shared with me a poem her Mom found and gave her when she was 10. Thought I'd share it with you all.
Once there were two women who never knew each other. One you do not remember, the other you call Mother
Two different lives shaped to make you one. One became your guiding star, the other became your sun.
The first one gave you life, the second taught you to live it. The first gave you a need for love. The second was there to give it.
One gave you a nationality. The other gave you a name. One gave you a talent. The other gave you aim.
One gave you emotions. The other calmed your fears. One saw your first sweet smile. The other dried your tears.
One sought for you a home that she could not provide. The other prayed for a child and her hope was not denied.
And now you ask me, through your tears, the age-old question unanswered through the years. Heredity or environment, which are you a product of? Neither, my darling, Neither. Just two different kinds of Love.
Posts: 295 | Registered: Jul 2004
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This is really cool, babadger! We have a very similar experience just four years ago (has it been that long?) Anyway, found out that we had a younger sister 3 years younger than me. She contacted us.
It has been great having a "new" sister - even though it takes awhile, and some work, to build up a closeness. Since you don't have "memories" together, after you get past the first rush of learning everything about the other person, then it kind of struggles for awhile. But keep working at it and pretty soon it will be just like any other sibling!
A friend of mine recently found her long-lost half-siblings (children of her dad) and I know she was really happy about it too.
Posts: 5771 | Registered: Nov 2000
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Farmgirl gave some great advice; be sure to heed it. I've been on the opposite side and I know it's true. I wasn't adopted, but I didn't meet my biological dad or his family till I was 21. After the initial excitement, it was incredibly difficult. I struggled with a lot of emotions, including feeling left out and awkward because all of them had family history together and stories to tell, and I didn't. Hang in there when the difficult parts come.
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Hi everyone, I am Babager's sister Martha, and after our meeting at the airport I still am well a big bundle of emotions. That day will stick with me for the rest of my life as one of THE best days that has ever happened to me... I remember getting to the airport at 5:45 pm and having a 3 year old who had to go potty right away, all I kept thinking was I AM GOING TO MISS HER!! so I start crying in the bathroom finally my daughter gets done and I make a complete circle around the airport looking for a Kansas Citys chiefs jersey ANYWHERE, by that time it was almost 6 pm and I kept looking at the boards where they tell the flights to see if her flight had boarded or ANYTHING...THEN on my second time to get started walking around the area where people wait for there friends,familys, ect I recieve a phone call on my cell IT WAS MY SISTER and she was right around the corner from me. I couldn't believe it I picked up my daughter and rushed as fast as I could around the corner and all of a sudden I see my sister in her Kansas City jersey and I yell to her, after that it was a blur of emotion and hugs and crying and a lot of looking, because her and i look SO similar... It AMAZES me how much of a connection her and I had right off the bat after 25 years you would think there would be akward moments..but her and I picked up in those few min like we were never apart..I am so glad that I went to the airport to meet my AWESOME big sister..I almost wan't able to go because it was snowing in Colorado Springs really bad before I headed up to Denver but I am SO GLAD I WENT..Her and I live 6 hours away from each other so we will be keeping in touch, she wrote me a little note and her words will stick with me she writes "HERE'S TO CREATING A LIFETIME OF MEMORIES STARTING RIGHT NOW" well that is what I was hoping for..I believe that all this happened for a reason and I want to let her know this one fact...I AM GLAD I HAVE YOU AND MARI AND SHAWNA IN MY LIFE NOW and your families.
My name is Martha Marie and I have found my awesome BIG SISTER, not only that I found a whole awesome FAMILY... Posts: 2 | Registered: Mar 2005
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Hey I am Babagers sister Martha, I was Kaysmom but changed the name!! EVERYTHING is going good for us and have kept in contact and talk every chance we get!!! We are planning a meeting for June so I hope all goes as planned for that. I'll keep ya posted!! Posts: 13 | Registered: Apr 2005
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