This is off topic, having nothing to do with Democratic politics or current events. But this is a big deal in my world, and a touching, feel-good story that I've just got to share with everyone. I'm not trying to get kudos for myself, given my involvement in this... honest, I'm not!! Lol... in fact, it is my honor to be part of this story. (And, honestly, had the subject of this story been a bit more shrewd, my role really would've been unnecessary.) Anyway, here's the story... enjoy...
It just tickles me to share this touching story with the community. Please forgive the avoidance of names and some specifics, as I'm trying to protect the privacy of those involved.
Recently, there was a story in the Pacific Northwest about a mother and son reunited after many, many years. He had been adopted out at a young age, but the birth mother had searched for him for years. He didn't search, but only out of fear of rejection, not out of lack of desire. So, when they found each other it was total joy for both mother and son. Ah, happy endings. :) Anyway, I'm a sap for such stories, so I even went on to read some of the comments about this story. One person made a comment that while this was a wonderful story, it also made them particularly sad... they, too, had been adopted out at birth and wanted so badly to find their birth mother. They had searched to no avail for many years. And they had reason to believe, based on the circumstances, that perhaps the mother would be interested in a reunion as well.
This person had some information on the birth mother and posted that information in the comment. Well, I couldn't resist... I do a lot of genealogical research so I'm pretty handy at finding people. Of course, I'm usually looking for dead people. But some of the databases and sources are also useful for looking for live people... sources that this person may not have known about or known how to search. So, I dove into this case with significant hope because this individual searching actually knew the name of the birth mother (as well as some other information).
I quickly located a woman of the correct name in the correct city and of the correct approximate age. However, the date of the record was some 14 years after the birth of the searcher and the mother, at the time of that birth, was unmarried. So, with the last name being unchanged some 14 years later (not to mention the fact that it was an uncommon, but not a rare name... so there could be two people of the same name), I had no idea if this was the correct person. Even if it was, having the address and phone number from 1982 was not very useful. But that record also provided and 1994 address. Continued searching of another database gave me a 2000 address... which I knew was the same woman because she hadn't moved - the address was the same.
So, then, I simply did a current search. I found who I believed to be the same woman because the middle initial was even the same, and she was in the same city, but the address was different. A look at the public records showed two men... a "senior" and a "junior" living with her. This concerned me... the "senior" had the same last name. This made me think it might be a husband and son, meaning that this last name was the woman's MARRIED last name. And, therefore, it would NOT be the woman the searcher was looking for.
So..... I stepped back to the original database and searched on the older male. If married, he should be in the same household as the woman. He was. BUT... this first database also gives birthdates (which is how I could validate the correct age of the potential mother). This revealed that the older male was very likely NOT the woman's husband. Rather, being much older than the woman, he was much more likely her FATHER. And, therefore, the "junior" was the woman's brother. And, more importantly, being the father, this means that the woman's last name likely IS her maiden name!
This leaves me with a woman with an uncommon name of the right age in the right city. This still is no guarantee that it's the right woman, but there seems to be a strong possibility of it. And, now, I had her current contact information.
Next up, how do I contact the searcher? Well, the name of this person is quite unique, so I just started with the easiest thing... just look them up on Facebook. Luckily, that person is out there on Facebook.
...Then came the task of contacting this searcher in the most delicate way possible. After all, they don't know me from Adam. Moreover, I didn't want to give false hope... I had no idea if this was the CORRECT woman. And even if it is, what if the contact info is outdated or, worse, what if the mother wants no contact?!?!? So, I wrote a delicate, lengthy email explaining who I was, why I had the resources to search, the results of my search, and emphasized strongly the caveats that I was unsure of this being the right person.
I got a lovely, polite, thankful email back from the searcher. Apparently, they were already aware of this woman, but were too fearful or unsure to reach out because they did not know the details... for example, that this woman was the correct age and lived in that city for a long time. This is why I said in the intro that my involvement was really merely a catalyst. The searcher had already been aware of the potential mother, but had too much trepidation to reach out. All I did was provide enough backup info to lessen that trepidation. With the trepidation eased, the searcher reached out and found the mother ... on Facebook!!! The searcher contacted the mother and the connection was confirmed! Both are overjoyed! Mother and child reunited after over 40 years!!! What a wonderful way to end a Friday! I'm sure those two will have a fantastic weekend... though they may be running up some enormous phone bills!