July 22, 2010

"New Beginnings" holds a completely different meaning for me.  I've had quite a few beginnings in my life, starting from the time I was born.  I was actually the third party in my first new beginning.

Picture of my parents and I when my adoption was finalized

I was adopted into a very loving family when I was born.  My Mom and Dad have ALWAYS provided for me in a way that I will appreciate whole heartedly until the day I die. However, something was always missing.  I knew I had siblings out in the world somewhere.  I didn't know it as fact, but I knew it deep inside.  I was a sister and I always wondered if and how I would find my blood relatives.

I had the birth certificate for "Baby Girl Herrera" in my hand and was scouring it for information about my birth parents.  There wasn't much in the documents that I could go off of, given that it was a closed adoption.  A lot of blacked out sentences and contact information.  But I had names and birthdays.  I started there.

Cue: Google.  I tried countless combinations of names, nicknames, city names, last names, last known locations, heritage, and adoption websites.  What I found: nothing.  No one was looking for me (on the web at least).   I almost gave up.

On July 22, 2010 I tried one more combination in Google: "margaret peggy herrera riverton ridgecrest"

EUREKA!  I got a hit!  Unfortunately, it was my biological mother's obituary.  I read it with every hope of finding something, ANYTHING, I could use to find out if there were more blood relatives out there.  Lucky for me, obituaries list surviving relatives of the deceased.  Even luckier for me, it listed my five siblings' names!  Off to Facebook I went to send the most awkward message EVER to the names of my "siblings."

"This is going to seem weird.. but I think you're my sister. Peggy Herrera. 

I am the daughter of Peggy Lynn Herrera (as she was named when I was born). Is there any chance you're my older sister? I was given up for adoption at birth, and I have recently been looking for my birth parents. Unfortunately, I found Peggy's obituary (if she's your mother, I am truly sorry for your loss, and I wish I had had the chance to meet her) and every detail matches up with what I knew about her.

If you didn't know about me, which I kind of doubt you did, I'm insanely sorry for this shock. Please respond to me if you find it in your heart.

If you have no relation to Peggy, then I'm very sorry for bothering you. Thanks so much.

Michelle Lynne Cook"

Not 15 minutes later, I had a response.  Then came the phone calls.  Then came the tears.  Then came the most wonderful personal journey I have ever been on.

It guess it takes digging into your childhood and your past to appreciate who you have become as an adult.