Ain't that CRAZY?

A little "prologue" if you will... aka what I have known for the past 22 years!

My Mom was adopted by my grandparents (Oliver & Lorene) when she was 15 months old. It was a closed adoption, so there were many things kept confidential. Both my grandparents & my mom didn't know anything about her biological mother. The only facts they had were that she was born at Cook County Hospital in Chicago, her mother's name was Sally Burns, and her orignal name was Melissa Roxanne Wheeler-Burns. My grandma changed her name to Melissa Ann Kloepper. By coincidence, my mom's half sister (same mother-different father) was adopted by a couple who resided in Chester, IL only a measley 20 miles from my mom's hometown. Her sister, Jennifer is 4 years older. My grandparents & Jennifer's parents always made sure the girls stayed in contact. She has always told my mom stories of how their biological mother was a stripper, into drugs, and abused them both. Of course my mom believed her, why would she have a reason not to? It made sense. However, my mom & Jennifer are sisters by blood and that is about it. They never really got along, complete opposites and have not had a relationship for decades.

So, this is what we have always assumed mom's life was before she was adopted. I have begged my mom for years to try & find her bilogical mom. "Come on Mom, don't you want to know what she looked like", " Maybe she has changed" She was completely againist it. She always said she had a good life and why would she want to find someone who abused her. I understood and left it at that.

......Yesterday, October 8, 2010
Mom recieved a call. The lady asked her if her name used to be Melissa Burns and if she was born on May 7, 1969 and adopted on December 7, 1970? Mom replied...yesssss. The lady informed her that she was her biological cousin and that her biological mother had been looking for her since the day she was adopted. And a few years ago they hired a detective out of Washington. WHAT?!?!?!?! At first mom was really confused, she had this story of her life before & after her adoption for the past 41 years. So bare with me as I tell you what my Mom nervously/excitedly told me about their conversation. I was so excited myself that I don't even remember everything she told me. Nor does she, I don't think lol.

Apparently she was never abused. Her mother was in a very bad relationship with her first husband (Jennifer's father). She had an affair with a man and got pregnant with my mom. She did go to jail for something (she didn't really elaborate on the phone-except that it wasn't drugs) She missed the court date for my mom's adoption because of her own court date. When she got there, it was too late. The adoption was closed and finalized. **Keep in mind this was back in 1970 and a lot of things have changed since then. Both mom's biological father & biological mother went to SIU Carbondale. They have been married happily for 40 years. Had four more children, 2 daughters and 2 sons. One of the daughters is a Social Worker (imagine that :) and a comedian. One of the daughters has 4 children herself. One of the sons has something to do with Hollywood. The cousin asked mom if she still had auburn hair, fair skin, and freckles? Mom said yes. The cousin said so do all of your siblings. She also said that mom sounded just like one of her sisters. They all live in California, within an hour of each other. Her mom & dad live 20 minutes from San Francisco. Just think...all those years I watched Full House & my family was all right there. haha. Mom had asked this cousin why it wasn't her mother calling. She explained that she was very nervous & was afraid that my mom wouldn't want to talk to her. Of course, she did end up calling a little while later. Mom said that she just kept saying "Oh my baby, my baby" crying so hard that she couldn't get anything else out. She asked if she had a good life? And all of the other questions you can imagine a mother asking their daughter after missing out on 40 years of her life. Get this! She said that they still have a cake for my mom every year on her birthday :)

After Mom told me all of this at 1:00 p.m. she said that her & Matt were leaving for the airport at 3:00 p.m. to catch a plane to California. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! THIS IS CRAZY!! It has all happened so fast. They sent me a text around 1:00 a.m. and said they were driving over the Golden Gate Bridge!! It's only 8:00 a.m. there, I'm not sure what time they are meeting this whole family I didn't know I had. But they promised they would call me asap & tell me everything!!! Omgosh!!! This is simply amazing and so crazy!!! I am so happy for my mom, and for our whole family. I can't wait to see what they all look like! Anf if we are anything like them, maybe I'll find out the answer to nature vs. nurture. I will keep you posted as soon as I find out more!!! I told mom she needs to be video taping this so we can get on one of Oprah's last shows..been waiting my whole life to have an excuse to be on there hehe.