I didn't know that I was lost...

My name is Michaela and I didn't know that I was lost. Now you need a little background for this story to make sense. My mother and father got divorced when I was around 9 or 10 and my father died when I was 12. I knew, in that way that a 12-year would know, that my father’s second wife was pregnant when he died. However knowing something like that, as a 12 year old, is very similar to knowing that there is a Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, or the Easter Bunny.

On Tuesday, January 12th my friend JS's mom died. JS was out of the country and the remainder of the week was filled with waiting for her to arrive back in the U.S., picking her up at the airport, doing whatever I could to provide support, finally culminating in her mom's funeral on Saturday morning. I took a nap when I got home from the funeral and when I woke up from that nap, everything changed.

My mom called and the conversation went something like this:

Mom: "Hi honey, you're going to get a call from your Uncle R"
Me: "Ummmm, who's Uncle R, Ma?"
Mom: "Your father's younger brother."
Me: "Seriously Ma, you're kidding?"
Mom: "Nope, after your Dad died, your Uncle R lost touch with us and has spent the last 35 years or so looking for you."

My Uncle R, after years of searching finally tracked down the address where I grew up and sent me a letter... the letter made it's way to my Mom, who, after not being able to get a hold of me right away, opened the letter (she apologized, hoping I wouldn’t be annoyed with her for opening my mail :-).

Essentially, the letter said:

My name is RLT and I had a brother DET. In 1952 he married a woman named LLG and they had a daughter in 1962. Her name is Michaela. I have spent the last 35 years trying to find her and if you are she please contact me.

Mom put down the letter and called him and then she called me. After we talked about how remarkable this was, I asked her if she knew when he would call. She wasn't sure and since I have very little patience, I asked for his number.

I took a deep breath and dialed his number. The conversation went something like this:

Me: Hello, may I please speak with R?
Uncle R: This is R.
Me: Hi R, this is Michaela

Now keep in mind my entire family calls me Mikki - no one else, just my family.

Uncle R: Mikki, is that really you?
Me: Yes it is...
Uncle R: Oh honey, I've been looking for you so long. You were on my bucket list and I wasn't leaving this earth until I found you.

Things got a little emotional after that... once we recovered and regained our wits, we chatted for a while. Uncle R told me about my passel of cousins (that I didn't know I had), the search, and finally that 19 years ago he had also found my brother, S! Once again, there was more emotion and wit gathering. He told me a little bit about S and then I asked him if he had an email address... wondering if he might like to see some pictures. The answer to both of my questions was yes.

Once we hung up, I had my husband D take a couple of pictures and I sent Uncle R photos from the last 14 years of my life (from my wedding day in 1996 to the pictures that D had just taken). I told him to feel free to send the photos and my contact information to S. We emailed back and forth and he told me that he had spoken with S and that he would be calling me.

The phone rang a little while later. I answered the phone and heard my brother's voice for the first time. We were on the phone for over an hour that night. It's funny, we had never spoken before but it was such an easy and natural conversation. Even better, S sounds like a really nice guy! I’m looking forward to meeting him.

I plan to use this blog to chronicle how this story unfolds.