Earlene was adopted before she was old enough to remember anything. Her home life was cozy and happy and joyful. Which is why her mother never told her she was adopted by her dad. Her parents didn’t want to disrupt the peaceful, comfortable feeling in their family by complicating things. So when Earlene (who was named after her birth father, Earl) was about to be married, her mother sat down with Earlene and told her about her birth father. She was shocked.
Years passed before Earlene was ready to pursue any connection with her birth father’s family. Once she made the decision, things rolled pretty quickly. Earlene found that many questions were answered and somehow, even though it was somewhat painful, she began to feel more complete.
I asked Earlene how she thinks things would have gone in her life had she always known she was adopted. Would everything have been easier? Would she have preferred that to the shock of finding out later? She’s not sure. Her growing up years were so joyful and happy – and she wouldn’t change that for anything!
