In 2017, you published my letter, “A Gift of Family.” I wrote that I was adopted in 1953.
I found my birth family through Ancestry DNA. Since then, I flew to Downers Grove in Illinois to meet them. When I looked into their eyes, I knew where I came from.
My sisters, Debbie, Patty, Brenda, Barbie and my brother, David, have my blue eyes. We have the same nose and the same hair.
We are all short, although I have the best legs. They say they came from our mother.
While there, I met my nieces and nephews and their children. I have so many cousins. I love them all, but the real love I have is for my adoptive mom and dad.
I love them for all their wonderful care and upbringing and the values they taught me, but most of all for their unconditional love.
They have been gone awhile now and I miss them. I’m sure they are looking down on me, sending their love, and are happy for me for finding another “gift of family.”
This is my gift of hope for anyone out there searching. God bless.
O’Neill writes from Cape May.
