Friday, June 1, 2012

Get Out Your Hankies!


Hi Chickies!  

By the way, have I told you lately how much y'all mean to me?  Well, just in case I have been neglectful in that department........YOU REALLY do mean a LOT to me.


Ok.........got your hankies ready?



If you've been one of my buddies for awhile now, you probably know I never share my life on a personal level.... I just try to keep things impersonal and light.  But today......a tale that will touch your heart.   I'm going to get real here...  so let's start.


It's a long story.    :-)    Get comfy.


My daughter was born 10 months and four days after I got married.  Easy Peasy.   When I thought of having another baby it never occurred to me that it could be difficult, but it was.


I actually became pregnant five times after Dodi......several with the help of fertility drugs, but always miscarried....  once at five months.  My heart broke.  I had the Dalkon Shield IUD after my daughter was born and the Dr. was certain that contributed to the problems I was having.  (Apparently many women who had had this form of IUD suffered from infertility after using this product).


So..........after about 3 years of trying.......and living in horrible pain caused by endometriosis and some other problems, I had surgery to correct things.



A year later I signed the papers for the Dr. to do a hysterectomy......he hoped he'd be able to repair things again, but wanted to be able to take the best course for my health.


When I woke up he told me he'd had to take my uterus.



Heart.broken.


That was May 1977.



Several weeks passed......and while I was at home recovering, my sweet Dr. called me.  He said "I've just had a woman come in to my office, full term with no prenatal care.  She wants to give the baby up for adoption.  Do you want the baby"?


HOLY COW.


Emotions running higher than I could ever explain.  Such grief/depression/sadness over not being able to have another child to pure joy at the opportunity to have another chance.  Roller Coaster.



My memory is a bit blurry......but it wasn't long after that call that I got another call saying that the baby had been born, it was a darling little girl........June 1, 1977.    I couldn't get to the hospital fast enough.  They wanted to keep her for a few days to check her very carefully since her mother hadn't received any prenatal care...  so we brought her home when she was several days old.


BLISS.


We laughed at her constantly.  I've never seen a baby with so many facial expressions.  I inhaled that baby smell and held her more than I put her down.


When she was less than a week old there were some circumstances that meant we were going to be unable to keep her.....  Nothing at all with her.......it was about us....  forgive me for not going into detail here, but it's pretty painful stuff........



We called the Dr. to tell him our decision.  He told us that he had a wonderful family that wanted that sweet and precious baby and not to worry about it.



Sure.  Don't worry?


We met the new parents at the courthouse when we went to sign all the paperwork.  I didn't think I'd ever stop crying.  It was HORRIBLE.


I memorized their names.  Their faces.


I knew I'd be able to find them somehow.


And, I did.



But I was afraid.  I so wanted to see how this sweet little child was doing.  I had pictures of her from the hospital and her first few days of life that I wanted her to have.  I kept thinking I'd find out where she went to school and do a "drive by"...  or go past her house to see if she would be playing outside.



I thought about calling.  I knew they wouldn't want to talk to me.   What kind of woman would give this little girl up?


Guilt.


Remorse.


Sadness.




I kept the pictures.  I kept her home phone number and address.  FOR over THIRTY YEARS.  Blue envelope........rubber band, phone number and address attached.



Enter Dodi and Facebook.



She was determined to find Shelley.


Well, come to find out, Shelley not only had a facebook page, but also a BLOG!   Don'tchajustlove the internet?


We read all about her, her wonderful LIFE, her parents, her brother, husband and baby.  We saw pictures of her as a little girl.  We saw her wedding photos.  Oh how it warmed my heart.



And, it put my mind to rest.  She's been raised in a perfect.........no PERFECT home and she was happy.  She'd found her very own Mr. Wonderful.  She knew Jesus.  Oh how I loved knowing that.


So, finally, after a year of thinking about it, Dodi mustered up her courage and contacted Shelley through Facebook.


She told her who she was and after some late night conversations it was agreed that her mom, Shelley, Dodi and I would meet for lunch.


Tears.  LOTS of Tears.  And, so much JOY.  We talked and talked and talked.......it was so funny to find out that her mom and dad had taken her home on June 6th.......in my memory we'd had her for a month or so......not six days.  


I found out they had prayed for all her "Moms" on Mother's Day all those years.  I could barely believe it.  See what I mean about wonderful parents?


We found out how God had had HIS hand on the entire situation......  HE had a plan........and had Shelley not come through us to her FAB.U.LOUS parents she wouldn't have ended up there at all.  


Isn't God just tooooo awesome?



Don'tcha just want to know how this story ends?...  Well, it's not really the END...  just what we know up to now.


I knew I had missed her all of those years, but I didn't really know or understand what a missing piece she really was in my life until I saw her again...... I'm thrilled to know this girl now.  She's a sweetheart, has the kindest husband ever, TWO precious little boys and a little one on the way.



This photo from our lunch together.........  She smiles like that ALL the time.


Dodi on the left, Shelley on the right......pregnant with her second baby, John Paul.


She calls Dodi her sister separated at birth..........and me?  Her bonus Mom....isn't that just the cutest darn thang?


She tells Dodi they wasted a whole year while she was dinking around instead of contacting her.


They are.........two peas in a pod.   So much alike.  They both have wonderful senses of humor and have big, loud laughs.


And so..... I want to say........Happy Birthday Shelley.


We love you.....  and your family.



What a wonderful woman you are.


So now.........you want to see those darling babies?....  her sweet hubby?...  See what she's up to?


You can pop over HERE.


She's also SUPER talented and is a photographer........and does the MOST perfect graphics........just in case you might need something?   :-)





So, there you have it.


A happy post for the first of June.



Lovies and Huggies,

Spencer


xoxo


*******

Linking to Miss Beverly's Pink Saturday...  Be sure to pop over to visit...  HERE....




29 comments:

  1. Spencer thanks for the hankie warning. All I can say is God is so good and does know the best thing for us all. I am so glad you found Shelly and she is once again a part of your life! I will go visit her blog soon! xoxo Linda

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  2. Spence, you made my day. That is such a wonderful story with such great potential. I am so very happy for you and all the people involved. So glad you found her!!

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  3. I so enjoyed reading this, Spencer, and yes, I need a few tissues! My heart was breaking and then bursting. Shelly and Dodi are beautiful girls and you are right, Shelly has three moms!

    XO,
    Jane

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  4. Oh Spencer...what an amazing story!!! It truly is wonderful and a testament that all things do work together for good for those that follow Him!!!!! I'm so very happy for you and your entire family ~ hugs and love, Dawn

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  5. Happy Pink Saturday, Spenser! What a lovely and heart-warming share today. Happy Birthday to Shelley too. Isn't God just amazing to have worked this all out for all of you? Yes, He's good and He cared for all of you even when you were apart. Thank you for sharing from your heart today. You've been a real blessing to so many.

    Hugs,
    Sandi

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  6. WOW OH WOW. BONUS for you Sweet Spencer.
    I LOVE happy endings. And this one will go on and on and on.
    How wonderful.
    xoxoxoxo

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  7. What a wonderful thing to be her Bonus Mom after all you went through. So glad that Dodi could be her sister too. Heartwarming how this all came to be. There is a Master Plan for our lives. Thanks for sharing something so personal.
    Ann

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  8. so glad my tissue box was nearby! I just couldn't stop reading long enough to sop up the puddles of happiness I was crying. What a wonderful story with an wonderful beginning for the future. I'm so happy for all of you.

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  9. What a beautiful story, so moving, thank you for sharing. God is good that's for sure. God bless...

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  10. I believe this is the most amazing story I have ever heard. AMAZINGLY AWESOME
    OH MY HEART!!!!! I HAVE NO WORDS.

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  11. Oh, Gosh! What a terrific and truly inpirational and heartwarming story, Spencer. I'm sure it wasn't easy for you to share but I'm SOOO GLAD YOU DID! God is soooo good and knows what we need so much better than we ourselves do. What a wonderful continuing happily ever after story......

    So glad you popped over today ~ I hope you signed up for my giveaway that ends tomorrow! And a quick reminder about my annual WEDDING BLOG PARTY next Friday, June 8th! Hope you will join us!

    Big PS Hugs,
    Stephanie

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  12. Weeping, indeed. God is good! Bonus mom...precious choices from a kind hearted young woman. I'm so glad that you kept those pictures in that blue envelope all those thirty years. I've always loved scripture where it tells us to NEVER give up hope. You were obedient and received blessed rewards because of your faithfulness. Thank you for trusting us with your story. Cherry Kay

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  13. 2 hankies! What a blessing! God is good...all the time! What an incredible blessing for your family! Truly united in hearts as one family. What a special post. Thanks so much for telling us the miracle story.
    Ruth

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  14. The counseling room taught me how to hide my hankie:) But seriously, I am so happy you got to meet Dodi as an adult & mother, so now you have a big rock removed from your life (or whatever you would call it. If I only went on Pink Saturday for your story, it was worth it! Thank you for reminding me how many people I could help:)

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  15. Spencer you are a gift. I didn't know you had had such a heartbreak in your life. But isn't the Lord amazing how He makes no mistakes??? It was meant to be this way for ALL of you. You just inherited a whole new family : )
    sending love...

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  16. Hi Spencer - OMG, what a heart-touching story! I'm so glad for all of you!
    Thank you so much for visiting me and for joining my giveaway!
    Hugs from Austria and HPS!
    Traude
    ✿ܓ✿ܓ✿ܓ✿ܓ✿ܓ✿ܓ

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  17. I think you should write a book! You captured perfectly all the love and tears around June 1977. We are so grateful to get to meet you and Dodi. It feels so good and complete to know you were there for her, our precious daughter. I truly hope that we get to share our families more and more each year. We love you and God bless you!
    Karol
    Shelley's mom

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  18. Oh Karol.. You made me cry. It's been wonderful getting to know all of you......and your daughter? PURE.JOY. I am a grateful intermediary in the path to your girl's real home. We love alllll of you too! xo Spence

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  19. My beautiful Spencer.....

    GOD is GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD! There is NEVER a coincidence when so much emotion, pain, joy and circumstances all come together for a PURPOSE. This is a story to tell INDEED in a way that even MORE people can see this! Oh sweet thang, IT IS SO GOOD TO SEE YOU AGAIN! For the longest time, I had not seen you post and it is so hard to keep up with EVERYONE. THANK YOU for coming to visit with me and DO COME BACK NEXT WEEK to visit with the other bloggers and myself who will be posting on Paris!

    This is a true gift to reunite with someone special; I just got a letter in the mail on Friday from a long lost BEST FRIEND from high school. I tried calling her but no answer; I will try again for these reunions are once in a life time gifts that must be TAKEN!!!!!

    BIG GIANT HUGS, SPENCER!

    Anita

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  20. I think your story is book worthy! What a touching gem of a tale! :) You are and inspiration! How sweet! I was smiling and tearing up at the same time! :')

    Hugs,

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  21. Such a beautiful story....I'm so glad you all found each other again!
    Jane

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  22. Spencer, thanks for stopping by for a visit. I hope that you'll take a stroll through my archives...where you can see many of the dishes put to use in tablescapes. Drop by any time. Cherry Kay

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  23. What a wonderful, heartwarming story!! Thank you for sharing it and it has such a happy ending!!

    Thanks for the comments on my blog re: soldering and such. I'd love to share a few tips with you but can't find your email address anywhere on your blog...am i just missing it?

    email me via the little button on my blog, and i'll write you back.

    Maggie

    http://www.themagrag.com

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  24. That was just the most precious story I have ever heard. Not only do I have tears, but am sobbing. A beautiful picture of you and her. I am so happy for you that you got to know how she "turned out" and know that her life was and is good.
    Thanks for being so sweet and stopping by my blog last week to leave comments. It looks like you have been rather busy. I'm off to read your Hawaii post. A dream of mine...someday.

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  25. Oh! My! What a way for me to start the day - seriously! Crying by myself in front of the computer - what a very sweet story - I know it must have been very difficult for you to let her go! I am amazed how God works things out for good - thank you for sharing this wonderful story,
    Kathy

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  26. what a wonderful story....as I sit here with tears streaming down my face....I do believe everything in life happens for a reason.....today my wonderful young neighbors adopted their baby son Leo...Leo was born at
    4:11 p.m. a hefty 8 pounds 6 ounces to a young mother who could not keep him...so he will be raised by these wonderful people and I get to be a stand- in- Grandma....I am thrilled and going to see him in the hospital tomorrow....isn't life great!

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  27. This is a wonderful story, and I am so glad that all of you have done so well for all these years. Most of all, I'm glad you have the peace to know how all this "ended" so you know you made the right decisions for everyone involved. Thanks so much for stopping by my blog!

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  28. You deserve this wonderful beginning, not an ending, to the story, sweet Spencer. You just never know what God has in store for each of us ... but these kinds of moments melt hearts. No tears here, just warm, heart smiles for each of you. I'll pop over to meet her now.

    I know you have to be thrilled, Spencer.

    Have a great eve ~
    TTFN ~
    Hugs of love, my precious friend ~
    Marydon

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  29. Love reading this again, Spencer.
    Love ya!
    Happy pinky weekend ~
    TTFN ~
    Marydon

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Sweet and dear little Chickies....thank you so much for your comments. I read each and every one. I always try to make a return visit........sometimes I fail miserably... but you're alllll soooo special to me!

Many, many hugs!
Spencer