A Story Of Adoption Continued...Chapter 6

So Jeannie went back to Edmonton.....
She soon met a man who she would eventually marry and have 2 daughters with. Tania and Tasha. His name was Adolph. I never met him~he passed away from Cancer before Jeannie and I met~but they have told me nothing but wonderful things about him.
When Adolph and Jeannie got engaged, Jeannie called the Lawyer who handled my adoption, to tell him that that she wanted to get her daughter back. He explained to her that I had already been with my new family for over 6 months. I was already a part of the family and in a good place. I was being well taken care of. He asked her "Do you really want to go and take that baby away from all of them now?" He then went on to explain to her that my parents would take it to "The Supreme Court Of Canada" before giving up their daughter. Was she up for that fight? She wasn't. But still very flattering to me!! I had 4 people wanting to be my parents!!
I asked her what ever happened to Len. "Bio Dad" and she told me that she ran into Len's brother over 20 years ago and he told her that Len had died from Alcoholism. In his 30's. This was so upsetting and shocking to me. I was never going to have the chance to meet him. It also meant that I would have no other biological siblings....or at least any that I would be able to track.
I put it to rest figuring one day I would at least track down a picture of him.
So my journey with Jeannie continued over the phone until I was able to finally go out and meet her. Which actually didn't take long. The customer of mine who promised to fly me there when I was ready, made good on his promise. He asked me when we wanted to go and we booked out flight.I had to bring my husband ~ Ben~ with me of course.
It was June 15th 2001. We booked a 4 day trip. I had butterflies in my stomach just booking the flight. The anticipation of what it was going to be like....that first moment we meet...
When I called Jeannie to let her know we were coming she was insistant on us staying with her. I wasn't so sure how I felt about that at first. What if it was uncomfortable? What if I needed to be able to be alone with Ben to talk? This was so huge and I wanted to allow my self the freedom to process everything as I needed to. I felt better just knowing I had a hotel room to go back to each night where we were alone Where we could talk. But then she was insisting on paying for the hotel...and I wasn't going to allow that so I gave in and agreed to stay with her. That may seem odd that I would go and stay there without really knowing her very long but I had spent so much time talking to her and the girls before we went that it seemed comfortable. I went with my gut.
Throughout this you may all be wondering about my Dad. My adopted Dad. Like I mentioned before, both my parents were always supportive of us searching one day.
The story between my Father and myself, my brothers.....and my whole entire family....is a long and unpleasant one.
I will sum it up to satisfy any curious readers but it really doesn't play any significant role in the story of Jeannie and I.
After my Mother passed away my Father decided that it was "His time."
He would say that all the time.
It was "his time to enjoy life."
We had taken care of my Mom for over 3 years while she was dying of cancer. I say "WE" because WE all did. Together.
I guess that he wanted to start a new life and it just simply didn't include his 3 kids. We weren't part of the picture. My Dad was capable of being really cheap and kinda nerdy but no one ever expected him to take thigs to the point he did. Years of lawsuits for support for my brother Adam and I (he thought at 16 and 17 years of age that we should be able to support ourselves), fighting him in court for the modest amount of money my Mother left to us....it goes on and on and it's just a bunch of dirty laundry I don't need aired!
In the end we don't speak. We run into each other occasionally but any significant run-in's will be included in the story as I go.
In the next chapter I will lead you up to my reunion. There was lots of planning and lots of nervous days and sleepless nights!!
Thanks for reading, please feel free to leave comments!!