After being away for 6 days, I came home to a full mailbox. It took me a few days to get through all of the emails and to respond but finished this task yesterday.

Yesterday was a busy day but also a rewarding one. There are times in my life that I wonder why I do what I do. Why do I continue to spend so much time on adoption search and support. There are times that I feel like I just want to let it all go and something happens to remind me that helping one individual find his or her natural mother makes it all worth while.

Well, this is what happened to me yet once again yesterday. I had finished up on responding to my emails and hit send/receive one last time before I logged off the computer.

A couple of email messages downloaded into my inbox and one of them read in the subject line, “Possible Match”. I opened the email and read a young man’s introduction of himself. He started out by stating his full name and then went into the details of his birth including his date of birth, city and state of birth, as well as the hospital, and that he was adopted by very loving and warm parents when he was two months old. He continued his email by saying that he was searching the PA Adoption Reunion Registry database that is online and noticed that he may match a natural mother. He then provided details such as his hair color, race, a minor birth defect and asked if I could please confirm or deny this woman as a possibility to being his natural mother..

I immediately went to the database to see if the information for this natural mother was being conveyed to me accurately. It was at this time I realized the natural mother had registered in 1999 which was 7+ years ago. My immediate thoughts were to call her and I was praying that she hadn’t moved or changed her telephone number. My first try resulted in a busy signal which left me partially relieved because that meant the number is active but the other part of me was thinking what if the number is now someone elses. About a minute later, I tried again and the line was still busy. I let another couple of minutes go by as I was rereading the young man’s email as well as the information on the database. I try again, and the phone rings. After about 6 rings, an answering machine picks up. I knew I had the right number and person because of the greeting on the answering machine. I leave a discrete message with my name, phone number, asking for a return call regarding information registered with me approximately 7 years ago.