“Seven months ago, my husband and I were in the back seat of a friend’s car on the way to dinner when the phone rang. It was a social worker. She told us that a baby had been born into foster care– our daughter had a biological sister. We could take a couple of days to decide, but we needed to let her know ASAP if we were interested. I had a full-blown panic attack.”
‘My daughter has a sister, it’s complicated. I was almost ‘Mama’ to that sweet girl.’: Adoptive mom ‘heartbroken’ after daughter’s biological sister not placed with their family
‘I looked at my mom, tears welling up. ‘Was I adopted?’ She knew this day would happen. She knew I’d want to know. My answer was a few clicks away.’
“I opened an unknown can of worms. Things started swirling in my head. ‘Was I not loved? Am I not worthy? Do I have siblings?’ I started at my computer screen. Same eye shape, same smile. I finally clicked send. Within a half hour, she responded. The pit of my stomach felt so sick.”
‘Let’s go get our kids!’ We didn’t have a plan. One by one, they entered the room.’: Woman survives Route 91, Las Vegas Mass Shooting, adopts nieces, nephews in wake of siblings’ deaths
“‘It’s just fireworks.’ Reloading, shooting, reloading, shooting. I kept saying, ‘I shouldn’t be here, I have kids.’ A week later, the survivors planned a moment of silence at 10:04 p.m. I went outside, looked up at the stars. Suddenly, ash the took the sky. Our town was on fire. I’d just survived the worst mass shooting in American history, and we were now stuck in California’s deadliest wildfire.”
‘How could I buy a house with a shared driveway next to a sister I didn’t even know I had?!’
“Oh my God, it’s her, Lance! Stella and I are jumping around and screaming, ‘It’s her! It’s her!’”
