This picture was taken on the day that my dad met his other daughter.
I grew up being the baby of 5 with one big brother and three big sisters. I was the only child between my mom and dad. It was a lot of “his, hers, and ours,” and I was the “ours.” The thought never crossed my mind that there could be another sibling out there. In fact, I don’t think the thought ever crossed ANY of our minds, even our parents. My sisters were all 10, 12, and 15 years older than me. I became an aunt to my first sweet niece at the young age of 7. It was fun growing up in such a big family and adding nieces and nephews to the mix every few years.
In August of 2019, an individual reached out to my dad regarding the possibility of having a long-lost daughter. I have said it a million times since that day: I cannot imagine being on the opposite side of this story. Being the one growing up knowing you may or may not have a dad out there, maybe some siblings, not knowing if your biological dad was dead or alive, fretting over whether he would want you if he knew about you. Being the one pondering how even to begin the process of finding him. We always hear these stories and see these posts on social media. The ones asking, “should I reach out and how?” We rarely hear the story from the other side. Here is our story from my side.
This is me and my sister, Jessica, on the day we met.
She is only three months older than me, but that is a story for another time. Just a teaser to ease your minds; there was no cheating involved. I don’t know how long Jessica looked for our dad. I don’t know all of the details leading up to her wanting to find him, and it’s not my place to share the pieces that I do know. What I can share is what my family and I gained from her taking that leap of faith. I gained more than a sister; I gained a friend. My kids gained an aunt. I gained a brother-in-law, and my kids gained an uncle. I gained an awesome nephew and beautiful nieces, and my kids gained three cousins. I could keep on, but you get the gist of it.
If you’re on the fence about that ancestry kit or not sure whether you should reach out to someone you think might be your blood, I encourage you to take that leap. Not everyone gets the outcome that they hope for, but it is totally worth it in my experience. She thinks that she needed to find us to close a chapter in her life, but we were the ones that needed her to find us. God brought us together at the perfect time, and I am so grateful every day that she took that leap of faith that day in August of 2019 and put it all out on the line.
Here’s to you, sister! And the beautiful future that we all have ahead now that we are one big happy family!!
