When I contacted Camille, my biological mother, I wrote a letter to the 22 year old address that was listed in my adoption records. I gave my university dorm address (just a box number) as well as an email address in the hopes they would contact me. The first email I received from the Stewart family was from my biological grandfather. It was charming and heart-warming. I saved it to this day.
Here are two of my favourite lines:
"In the unhappy event that Camille decides not to meet you, I hope you'll keep that option open for us."
"I think I've stayed in the background about 22 years too long."
Whenever I feel the need to reminisce, I pull out my adoption folder and re-read some of the first emails I ever received from Camille and her father. My first email from Camille was warm and filled with the hope of a lasting relationship ("I have always wanted to know you"); my last email from her cut contact with me, seemingly permanently (You're not getting a quote from that one.).
Today I did a search of my email to find the first email from Kevin. Already there are over 50 emails from only two months of contact.
Here's the first one, sent moments after he received my Facebook message (above):
Hi Haley,
Sounds good. I use my work e-mail for pretty much everything…
Kevin
Talk about leaving the ball in my court! So I pondered what Kevin would most like to know about me, and I decided the first thing I would want from my long-lost daughter would be a picture. I sent a wedding photo and a graduation photo. Afterwards I wondered if they would be seen with joyful eyes, or would they be a sad reminder of the things that have been missed.
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