The Baby Part Two

I first wrote this story four years ago, but I never shared it on my blog.  It is a secret that I held for too long to let it go easily.  Now is the time to tell it.

If you haven't read part 1, you can find it here.

I grew up in Southern California in a neighborhood of three bedroom, two bath single family homes in the foothills of the San Fernando Valley.  We didn't have attics, basements, or barns in our ranch-style homes, but we had good neighbors and lots of kids to play with on those long, hot and sunny summer days.  

I was a reader and the stories of my childhood were of daring youth who explored attics or abandoned buildings  and found interesting clues that led them to adventure and sometimes danger.

I spent a lot of unsupervised time at home.  I did a lot of exploring. While we didn't have an attic or barn, there were closets and cupboards to survey and investigate.  I found a shoebox of letters and documents hidden in my mother's closet.  I read the letters.  I remember going back on several occasions to reread because I kept thinking that I must have misunderstood what I had read.  Every time I read the documents I understood the same thing...my mother had given up a baby for adoption.

My mother died almost 10 years ago.  I never asked her about what I had found.  Years ago I told my brother, Leigh what I had read.  He didn't remember anything about it.  

Two years ago I finally talked to my father about what I remembered about "the baby,"  and he told me the rest of the story.

Later this week I'll share the story with you.