Rather than go through the long history of my search, I'll refer new readers back to these posts:

• Where I explain my search and find out that my biological father is dead


• Where I order his death certificate and talk about why I'm continuing the search


• Where I received the death certificate and found out that my biological father had committed suicide

There. Now you're pretty much caught up.

Since that time I've:

1. emailed the library system in the county where he lived and asked them to try and find his obituary. They really did try to be helpful and even looked in adjacent counties, but nothing.


2. emailed the library system from the town his family used lived to see if there was an obit there. No luck there either.


3. called the funeral home where he was taken after he died to see if anyone picked up his ashes. They said that they couldn't provide me with that information because it was confidential.

I then gave it a rest for a couple of months because I was discouraged.

Last night, I emailed Shelle, the wonderful woman who voluntarily gave me the information about my father after I'd signed up at registry.adoption.com. I asked her if she could help me find my half-siblings and any other living relatives of my b-father. She replied back asking me for information from my b-father's death certificate. Within an hour of giving her this information, she sent me a whole lot of info including this:

**************************************************************************
HEY!!!!!

Give your G'ma a call:
[grandmothers name]
[grandmother's address]
[grandmother's phone number]

AHHHH! Let me know as soon as you get ahold of her and what she says. Remember she is about 92 years old.
**************************************************************************

I picked up the phone and dialed the number. It was busy.

tap... tap... tap....

I dialed again about 15 minutes later. It was ringing. That's when I started shaking.

Then a woman answered.

Me: May I speak with [grandmother's name]?
Woman: She's sleeping right now, this is her daughter [aunt's name]. Can I help you?"
Me: Well, I'll bet you'll talk to me. I'm Lori, [father's name] first child.
Aunt: Praise Jesus!

Then she talked so fast and we talked so fast that I don't remember much about the conversation except a few sketchy details. I'll just bullet point the parts I can remember:

• I have two half-sisters who live in Florida. She gave me the name and address of one of them, she didn't have the address of the other.


• She wanted me to fly to see them TODAY.


• My grandmother is very active physically and mentally, although she fell a few weeks ago and broke her shoulder.


• She's wondered about me all these years and didn't know where to find me (my Dad adopted me and I took his name)

Then she said that she heard my grandmother shuffling around and was going to put her on the phone. I heard her say, "Mom, there is someone who wants to talk to you. You'd better sit down for this. She's a long lost loved one".

My grandmother got on the phone and I told her who I was. She was silent for a few moments (and I'm sure quite stunned!). Then we talked. This conversation is somewhat of a blur to me as well. She kept saying that she couldn't believe it. She wanted to know about me and how I was doing. I told her that I had two sons who share many of the same physical traits as my b-father and that broke her up a bit. I know there's more, but I think I was in a little bit of shock because I never thought this day would happen.

I told her that I'd fly out there as soon as I could. I have a huge project at work that I need to concentrate on (yeah, I know what *should* come first, but I've made a commitment). I think it'll probably be the first of September or the end of August.

My aunt got back on the phone and gave me her email address and said that as soon as she goes back home she'll pass on the information that I send her to the rest of the family. She just happened to be visiting when I called. We exchanged addresses and phone numbers. Before I hung up she told me to rest up before I get there because we have a lot to catch up on.

She's right about that!

I emailed her with pictures of me and my boys. I also gave her the URL for my wedding site (which includes a movie of my wedding). I've not given her my blog address. While I believe that this would be a good way to catch up with who I am and what I'm about, I'm not quite ready to be that 'exposed'.

I found an email address for the husband of one of my half-sisters by doing a search on the Internet and asked him to pass my information along so we can touch base. Their phone number is unlisted. Sending a letter via snail mail seems so, so, S-L-O-W! But if I don't hear something in the next couple of days, I'll do that. I do not have any information on my other half-sister. I'm sure it's just a matter of time...

I'll also send my grandmother pictures via snail mail. I'm sure she's quite curious about what we (me and my boys) look like.

This all seems so surreal right now.

Thank you Shelle. You've changed my life.