Family Found

I'm not entirely certain where to start! How about a little back story- or... as little as possible?(Warning, I'm omitting details, because they aren't relevant, not cuz i don't know them.) My Mother married my biological father, and after awhile, they had me. Eventually their marriage dissolved, and my bio-dad married M. he and M quickly gave me a baby brother named Adam. 14 months later, a baby sister named Amanda came along. A month after Amanda was born ( when i was just six), my mother married the man who was my Daddy- from that day forward, I've had no other. My Daddy adopted me when he married my mother, which required my bio dad to give up his parental rights, and therefore have no more contact with me. That was not a problem for me- and i never plan on seeking him out. The downside of this is that the last time i saw or had any contact with M or her kids- my half siblings, was right after Amanda was born. M did manage to contact my mother once, when i was about ten, and it was decided that it just wasn't a good time in my development to risk contact with bio dad by being in contact with his kids. I've always thought of them though- our entire lives, and planned to find them when i grew up. I have three siblings that i grew up with from my mother and Daddy's marriage, Christina, Melissa, and Andrew. Because all of my siblings are half siblings biologically, i consider them all full siblings- because i don't have anything to distinguish between- maybe that sounds silly, but to me, family is family- more on that later. When i turned 18, i started searching- carefully- for Adam and Amanda-and for about 10 years i found NOTHING. it made no sense to me really, but i never really gave up. when Social Networking started to become widespread i found a new hope. About a year ago i thought i found Amanda on Facebook- right name, right age... i was so excited- but, when she answered my query, i was sad to find out this was not my sister. When i fired up my google-fu for the thousandth or so time 2 weeks ago, i wasn't really expecting much. For the first time ever, though, i found a tiny glimmer of real hope- i found a link to a site with a teaser on a birth record for Adam! Well, i wasn't yet ready to pay for what i was sure i could find for free, but it did give me an idea- i had never searched with anything but their names and our bio dad's last name. first, i searched for M with her maiden last name, which i was amazed i remembered from when i was barely six years old! Bingo! Facebook hit! i started trembling, as i clicked to add my Step mom (who i knew had been long divorced from bio dad and was therefore safe) as a friend, and felt goosebumps and tummy quivers as i clicked to see what i could of her friends list. my heart began POUNDING out of my chest as i saw the names Adam and Mandi in that list. There. They. Were. WOW. The reason I'd never been able to find them was because they too had been adopted by a stepfather, and so I'd had no idea what names to search for. Now cam the really surreal part- messaging them to tell them who i am. Did they even know i existed? would they care? How does one even start the conversation? well, here is what i wrote to my sister:

This is gonna Sound crazy, but, i am your sister. NOT SPAM!

Mandi, Hi! we have the same biological father and i've been looking for you for so long! the last time i saw you was the day you were born. please add me so we can get in touch! ♥

My message to Adam was almost the same. now came the waiting. definitely the hardest part. We went to the cookout with our small group from church that night, and i was excited to share my news and nerves with everyone. about an hour into the night, i checked my email and saw a message from Facebook saying that Mandi had sent me a message. heart began pounding again. the message seemed to take HOURS to load.

"Omg...I've always wanted to meet u..."

At this point i just began sobbing. i wrote her back a short message, and my joy just overwhelmed me- now i could see pictures of my beautiful sister! Adam added me back soon after, and i thought i couldn't have any more joy in my heart until i was getting into bed and saw that i;d gotten another message from Mandi:

"Well are u still awake? "

i grinned and replied

"Definitely too happy to sleep! :-) "

within seconds she asked

"U WANNA CALL ME?"

i didn't hesitate - typed "YES!!!!" and began dialing the number she'd sent. While the phone rang, i got a little nervous, but as soon as she answered, i said "Hey Little Sister..." and we were off. after 3 hours of talking about everything we could think of with barely a second to breathe, we realized we both needed sleep (it was 3:30AM) and promised to talk more the next day. Before heading to bed, i sent Adam a message to let him know i wasn't some crazy person and just wanted to have him in my life. he responded "right on." That was good enough for me for the moment.
i woke the next morning to a message from M- extremely happy to have found me, and eager to welcome me back into her life and family. i soon reconnected with her mother (Nana), brother, and amazingly- my aunt-bio dad's sister who i had a special bond with even tho it's been 24 years since I've seen her. i have found and been found and am so excited to have rediscovered my family. Mandi and i have been in constant contact and are going to be together in person very soon! watch this blog for more news and pictures!