February 2018

Uncle Dabo

by Mary Lynne on Sep 2, 2018 category February 2018

Sherry spoke with her brother David the weekend before I was to arrive. Until this weekend he had no idea that she became pregnant at the age of 16 let alone had given birth to a baby girl in March of 1965. There were several reasons why she waited until the weekend before to tell him what had happened. So when Sherry called and asked to come over to speak with him, he was already intrigued since they hadn’t spoke in a while.

I imagine she told him in this way ‘ David do you remember when I went to go live with our Aunt Francis and Uncle Pete? It was because I was pregnant and our parents thought it best for me and you to live away from home.’ She told me he said that he had absolutely no idea. He also said that being 10 years old at the time (Sherry is a 6.5 years older) he never once thought about it being anything else other than she had a hard time with her breakup from her boyfriend and didn’t want to be at the same school.

Sherry mentioned that I was coming out the following weekend and asked if he would like to meet me. So they agreed that he would most likely come over on Sunday.

While we were at the Davidian compound, Sherry slow cooked a beef roast for dinner. When David was ready to come over, she mentioned this to him as It had been a while since he had accepted to stay for dinner. Not entirely sure why this had been the case before, but I am happy to say that he did and he asked the rest of his family (2 sons and his wife) to join us for dessert.

Uncle ‘Dabo’ was given this name by his nieces and nephews. When he walked into Sherry’s house, he was truly in awe of the likeness of me with his sister And still in disbelief that his sister had me without him knowing when she was 17. I told him all about me, my family, etc., how I found Sherry and the steps that took place for my visit. When his wife, Glenna came over she was also reassured that I was Sherry’s daughter based on the likeness of the two of us. She also told us that it was because of a possible descendant link to Pocahontas that she asked David to do the DNA.com test. When the results came in, Glenna looked at it once to see how far back it went and with the ancestor history going back to the 1800’s vs the 1600’s, she stopped looking.

Sherry gave me this picture of the extended family including her brother, Uncle Dabo, my half sisters and brother, nieces and nephews, and spouses.

When Uncle Dabo was leaving he hugged me and said he was still in shock that he didn’t know about my birth. I hoped this was a good surprise!

Zero Gravity and Sushi Feb 16 – 17, 2018

by Mary Lynne on Mar 8, 2018 category February 2018

To my family and friends – thanks for sticking with me on these long blogs! So much to our story!

Before coming to Dallas I was thinking about what we would want to do. Go to see where we both lived (at one point we were both living in Richardson which is just outside of Dallas), the hospital where I was born which was demolished in 2015 due to structure integrity and then re-built, my old elementary school, etc. Knowing we were going to meet the family later on Saturday and probably stay busy the rest of the weekend, I asked her if a relaxing day at a local spa might be in order. Yes! she responded via text. So, I went to work looking at different options and chose a place not too far from the hotel where we could get in on Friday with a couple appointments. Saturday morning we went down for our free breakfast from a coupon that the manager also gave us (so incredibly thoughtful!). At the omelet station both Sherry and I ordered omelets with jalapeños, a few potatoes and some berries. Coffee is a must have with at least 1-2 cups a day. This fits with my 23andme report which said I was ‘likely to consume more’. We headed off to the spa for our first appointment. We went pretty casual with a lovely person offering to take our picture outside the spa.

Getting ready for our relaxing day!

Once inside, we talked through the appointments that I had booked filled in all the paperwork and we shown through the back door into low lights and low voices. Lockers, robes, hot tea – we were all set. For those who have pedicures, you will appreciate this next experience. We were called into this small room where there were a total of 4 chairs. Sherry and I were seated across from each other chatting away with one of the staff remarking how young Sherry looks to which she remarked with a thank you and how all these compliments were going to go to her head. 🙂 As we were all laughing, one of the patrons in the other chair asked us to lower voices which was fine because now we were about to transition to the zero gravity experience which entails laying back in the zero gravity chair, putting on comfortable headphones playing ocean and rainfall sounds and having soothing eye mask placed over our eyes. You feel like you are floating and in a complete relaxing state. Afterwards walking out of the room, both of us thought this was one of the best experiences for a pedicure we had ever had! With about a 3 hour gap we went through the rest of the picture books she brought and conversed about each family member a little more and Sherry’s life growing up. She was going to be a nurse when she was heading to college and in comparison I was going to be a dentist. She married even when accepted into nursing school but her first husband wanted her to work instead. This ultimately led her to a career in the post office. She became Postmaster eventually which is quite a feat for a woman in Texas!!!

I finished with my last appointment before my mom did, paid and walked to the local coffee shop. I texted where I was and she came walking in a little later not happy that I paid for everything. Her funny statement was that I was in trouble with her for the first time in our mother-daughter relationship! No worries it didn’t last long. 🙂

We went back to the hotel to change for dinner and then took a Lyft to the sushi place. Why sushi you may ask? We found that we both love sushi but Sherry doesn’t eat very often as very few family members like sushi. Some of you may know that I have yet to find a sushi place in all of my domestic and global travels that compares to the excellent texture, taste and freshness as The Sushi House in Bridgewater, NJ. Well, Edoko in Frisco, Tx runs a high 2nd!

We had a late reservation to give us time to wake up from our relaxing day and at t 11:30 pm as we caught our Lyft back we were literally the last patrons to leave with a restaurant employee vacuuming behind us. Not because we were messy but trying to ‘sweep us out of the restaurant’ in case we were thinking of just staying overnight. Haha! The sushi was that good!

Back to the hotel we drank a glass of wine and ate the last of the strawberries from the hotel manager discussing what our plans are for checking out and heading to Waco. She presented me with my Grandmother’s birthstone ring since my Grandmother Mary who died at age 94 last September had a March birthday like me. This was so special and so appreciated! My mom said that she wished we would have found each other before my grandmother died so she could have met me. I know she must be watching over me now! Another 1:30am night before we went to sleep but it was such a wonderful day!

Wine and Welcome – February 15, 2018

by Mary Lynne on Mar 3, 2018 category February 2018

At the airport we located the vicinity of where Sherry believe she parked only to find there was no elevator to go up the one flight. To refresh the reader I had my larger blue suitcase which wasn’t heavy but large! Up one flight only to realize we were actually down 2 flights of stairs giving us a good chuckle as we descended the parking garage. All my OTF workouts were coming in handy at this point. We located her cute white Toyota Rav4 and headed out of the airport toward the hotel. I found a good points rate at the Marriott Quorum next to the Galleria which was a good location especially if a little shopping was in our future 🙂 With my big blue bag in tow and her small floral bag we walked into the hotel. At the receptionist check in chatting with the young man who is getting everything in order, one of the managers asked us where we were from. My mother replies that she is from Waco and I am from Chicago. The manager then asks what brought together at their hotel? Sherry then follows this up saying “Do you think we look alike?” The manager nods yes. “We are here for a reunion… a 52 year old reunion!” The manager looked at us kinda funny so I explained that I recently discovered my birth mother on New Years Day and this was our first face to face meeting. She was so happy for us that she asked if we drank wine and what kind. In unison we both said YES! and red wine was our favorite. 🙂 “We will send to your room a bottle of red wine as a congratulations on your reunion.” As we were heading to the elevator Sherry asked if I minded her telling the front desk about us to which I replied that no I really loved the fact that she is as excited as I am on our new found relationship. We get settled, receive the bottle wine AND to our pleasant surprise six chocolate covered strawberries, and then head to the restaurant which is fortunately still open at 9:30pm. We walk up the restaurant only to be greeted by the restaurant manager who says this must be your daughter. My mother says yes with the manager remarking how much we look alike and how young Sherry looks. (This was the 2nd time someone told her this which she was just soaking in and enjoying the compliments!). Sherry then explains to me that she drove up early to Dallas, going to the mall then to the hotel meeting some of the staff who she also told our story. This made me just smile. I love that she is so happy!

At the hotel…think we look alike??!!

We find out that we like similar foods ordering hummus to share and a lite meal since it was pretty late. We spoke with my husband on the phone recanting highlights of our trip so far and headed back to the room. We both brought a little something to give each other – mine was a book titled ‘The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World’ by the 14th Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu that I also received at Christmas from my mother-in-law and she gave a bracelet from Brighton her favorite jewelry and purse store. We looked at one of four picture books she brought on her life growing up with pictures of my uncle, grandparents and other family members. Fortunately there was no quiz on who was who because at this point I am just nodding trying to soak it all in. We ended up talking until 1:30am only to continue talking for another 30 min even after we turned out the lights.

Moment of truth – February 5-15, 2018

by Mary Lynne on Mar 3, 2018 category February 2018

The week of February 5th I finally met my younger sister, Angi and her two children, Kori and Korbin via FaceTime. They were like Tony, so incredibly nice and easy to speak with! Kori is working toward getting a degree in speech pathology and Korbin is in high school playing baseball and football. Angi works for the school district and she also really enjoys working with people teaching them about skin care with Mary Kay products. Sherry remarked to me before we video chat how good Angi’s skin is and she definitely has a youthful appearance on camera! Kori told me about her focus in softball when she was in high school – I told her about the time we were invited to the Daytona 500 by a good friend of my husband. His daughters also played softball for Florida State and we had a chance to go to one of their games. We were quite impressed and I believe they won their games that day. Korbin and I talked about our favorite football, hockey teams – some the same (Dallas Cowboys) and some different (Dallas Stars vs Chicago Blackhawks). He was funny – every so often peering into the camera, picking on his older sister while trying to be serious but with a hint of a smile. 🙂 You can tell that Kori is quite tolerant of her little brother at times and she is beautiful inside and out! Our 2 hour video call seemed to fly by concluding that we were looking forward to seeing each other in a couple weeks.

Flying into Dallas – My original birthplace… St. Paul Hospital Dallas, TX

I spoke with Sherry and Gary a couple more times before flying out to Texas. Sherry and I decided it would be good to spend a couple days with just the two of us in Dallas and then go to Waco to see the family. She was very open to meeting someplace for the entire time but hearing from the family how excited they were to meet me, we chose to stay local instead.

I flew into Dallas Fort Worth airport on Thursday night, Feb 15 with luggage that I had checked through. I can pack small in a carry-on bag for work but for vacation when the weather may fluctuate I don’t even try. I stepped off the plane and walked the hallways to get to the baggage claim area. It was around 8:15 as we arrived a few minutes early having a gate open right away. Getting in early is one thing but getting into the gate when you are early sometimes is a miracle! As I walked up to the entrance there was my birth mother so adorable and grinning from ear to ear. We hugged a couple times and then talked about the clothes and jewelry we were wearing, the amazing weather, where she found parking, etc. chatting just like we were using FaceTime. No tears were shed at this point as I later learn that we are pretty similar in this regard where are emotions generally come at unexpected times. There was no loss of words between the two extroverted women, mother and daughter as we waited for my luggage. Her Texas accent and my typical non committal accent that is slowly beginning to evolve into a Texas twang. Yee haw! Finally they announced that the luggage was arriving on the carousel next to the one we were waiting at and as I looked left I saw my blue bag. I mentioned to Sherry that I saw it and started walking fast to grab it before it moved too far down the belt. She caught up to me saying ‘I was walking too fast’ but she understood why I darted so quickly to grab it. So we began the nice walk in 75 degree temperature outside to her car. I left 27 degree temperatures in Chicago so this felt lovely!

February 2018

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