Her Story
In the Beginning
I met your dad when we were both in the military, stationed in Europe. We got married in Las Vegas. You were born, and then life got complicated in the way it sometimes does. I was doing back to back deployments. He moved to Florida with you, and I thought that was okay because I was hoping to get stationed nearby so I could visit you. Then we divorced. After I was medically retired from the military, contact was cut off. Suddenly I couldn't reach you. I didn't know where you were. I didn't know if you were still in Florida. I searched for years.
Your Family
You have two aunts and an uncle who love you. You have three nieces and three nephews who are your cousins and who you have never met but who are part of your family. You have a sister who knows about you, misses you, and wants to meet you more than you probably know.
Your grandmother on my side passed away before you were born. She never got to know you, and that is one of the quiet losses of my life. She devoted herself to her grandchildren and she would have loved you deeply.
Your family has thought about you for years. You have never been forgotten. Not once.
Why I'm Here
I think about you every single day. I worry about whether you are okay, whether you feel loved, whether you have enough support around you. I worry about your mental health and your happiness. I worry that somewhere along the way you may have been made to feel like you were not fully claimed, not fully wanted. I want you to know that could not be further from the truth.
You have been searched for. You have been missed. You have a mom, a sister, aunts, an uncle, cousins, a whole side of a family that has an enormous amount of love for you and nowhere to put it because you have been out of reach.
I am not here to cause problems or to place blame. I am here because you deserve to know that you are loved. That you always have been. That there is a place for you here, with us, whenever you are ready. No conditions. No pressure. Just us, waiting, with open arms.
I am your mom. And I have never stopped looking for you.