The Baby Part Five

This is the one where I find my sister!

If you haven't read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, or Part 4, you might want to click on each of the links above and start at the beginning.

I had started searching for my sister with no expectations.  I didn't feel any stress about the process until we started to get results.  Once I saw her birth record, she was real to me, not just an abstract idea.  

Sunday afternoon I got a phone call from Judy, a "search angel"  volunteer for the Find My Family Adoption Registry.  She  asked if I would like her to help search.  "At no cost to you," she said.  I gratefully accepted her offer of assistance.

That evening my blogging friends, the Vashonistas, and I watched the second presidential debate.  The next morning we had one final writing session and then it was time to say goodbye.  I had a ferry ride and a five hour drive ahead of me.  I stopped at the local Vashon supermarket to load up on snacks for the journey. 

This is where I was standing when my phone rang and Judy, the search angel, said "I found your sister.  I've talked to her.  I need your permission to share your contact information with her."  

The tears started rolling down my face.  "Her name is Stacey.  She knew she was adopted and she would like to contact you."  I don't remember a lot of the conversation, but I must have gotten some strange looks from other shoppers as I paced back and forth in front of the candy display, tears flowing freely, saying "Oh my God, Oh my God. I can't believe it!"

I sat for awhile in the parking lot absorbing the knowledge that my sister had been found.  Her name is Stacey.  I called my dad and told him.  I don't know why he was my first call because he's not related to her, but he had made the search possible by sharing information...long held secrets, with me.  I texted my brothers. My youngest brother, Ross, replied "I think you have the wrong number,"  and then "What sister?"  I had forgotten he didn't know anything about "the baby."

I had told Judy, the search angel, that I was driving home for the next five hours and I wouldn't be able to text so I would contact Stacey when I got home.  I was sitting in my car on the ferry to Seattle when I got a Facebook friend request from Stacey.  I accepted and immediately started crying again.  I stalked her Facebook page...and then she messaged me.

Stacey:

No rush, since you are driving.My home phone is

Me:

So relieved you're a Hillary supporter. I had a thought, "what if she's one of the deplorable?" That would have been hard!

Stacey:

OMG, JUST had the EXACT same thought about you minutes ago

Not texting while driving, still on the ferry!

Stacey:
Thank you for finding me

...and I cried some more.  It was a slow drive home.  I stopped at every rest area between Seattle and Hermiston to read and respond to her texts. 

I have a sister and her name is Stacey.