The way all this started goes back to my first "real" case. I had been helping do search work with the group--Adoptees and Natural Parents Organization--for about a year when Billie called and said " I have a case I want you to work, a woman in Washington state is looking for an older brother. See if you can help her."
Well, Sandy called me and gave me her info. As it turned out her parents had gotten married shortly before their first child and only son was born. For many reasons they felt it best to put the child up for adoption. 14 months later Sandy was born, the first of 3 sisters. It was not until 22 years later that she found out-by "accident" that there was an older brother. She spent 10 years looking on her own but 3000 miles away, it just wasn't easy. Then one day she was talking with a new acquaintence and discovered that they had just completed an adoption search with the aide of a searcher. Sandy quickly called the searcher and asked for help. As luck would have it the searcher had The Adoption Reconnection Directory handy and referred Sandy to A.N.P.O. For 10 years Sandy had been thinking about "Brother" as she called him.One trip to the courts and I gave her a name; DAVID. It wasn't long after that I was able to furnish her with a High School Graduation Photo--Now she had a face to go with the name. As we got closer to finding him Sandy and I spent many hours on the phone talking. She was determined NOT to contact him until we were sure that he knew he was adopted. She quickly adopted the nicknames: Sleepless/Sister/Sandy in Seattle.Then almost 4 weeks to the day of the first call I had a phone number. I had already confirmed that David knew he was adopted.I called and spoke to his wife, Pam and confirmed it was the right guy, he was at work but would be home later. So I called Sandy and said, "Here's the number. He'll be home at 7:30. Call afterwards."By 10 p.m. I was sweating-What was happening??? Finally at 10:45v the phone rang and Sandy's emotion choked voice filled the air; "I just talked to my Brother--and he likes me." Needless to say joy ran rampant on both coasts that night. Since then Sandy and David have remained in constant contact. AT&T loves them!! He has visited her twice and she has been here once and will be back Xmas of '97. Sandy was so overjoyed with the results of her search that she sent me a "large" check to repay me for expenses and to say Thanks. I don't do this for money, I do it for love and because I have been there and I know how it feels. Yet I couldn't insult her by sending the check back, after all she was a friend! So, with her permission, I used the money to set up The SIS fund. We use the money to pay expenses on searches and all the donations we receive from people we help goes right back into the fund. This way we pass on the happiness, the ones who donate pay the expenses for the next search, helping someone else to feel the joy, find the answers. It's our way of sharing the wealth and giving back a little of what we got so others can be found. So in a nutshell, that's how things got started and now 9 months later we have had over 20 successful searches and are working on countless others. If we can help you, let us know we would love to try. And if you would like to help others by supporting the fund please email us for an address and an account number. ALL donations go to pay expenses for searches-We are NOT paid for our time/trouble!
UPDATE
August 2000....Sandy and David are still one of the happiest reunion stories I know. To celebrate their 20th anniversary Sandy and her Husband Norbert rented a HUGE house on the oceanfront in Rodanthe NC for the week and renewed their wedding vows in an outdoor chapel. David was the best man and in attendance were...myself, David's adopted parents, Sandy's adopted family, including a precious little adoptee of just 2 years of age. WOW What a collection of Triad members and what a wonderful wonderful time it was for us all. To know my actions have resulted in such an overwhelming amount of love, 3 families have opened up their hearts and homes and taken to one another completely. What a gift it is to know them and to have played a part in making it all happenWe are a non-profit volunteer Search/Support group.
We DO NOT charge a fee for our services.
Our volunteers donate their time and effort. YOUR donations (big or small) help pay the expenses and allow us to help you and others. All funds received go directly to a working account used to conduct searches to locate and reunite families. Please contact us for donation information.
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