30 years after adoption, Father's Day Newspaper article describes reunion. 

It's the start of my Life Story . . . 

By Peggy Isakson on Jun 21, 2015 at 5:40 a.m.

 THE WIPERS STRUGGLED TO KEEP UP WITH THE FURIOUS ONSLAUGHT ON THE CARS’ WINDSHIELD. IT WAS A LATE NIGHT IN 1967, JUST BEFORE MY 6TH BIRTHDAY.

 ALL OF MY BELONGINGS WERE PACKED IN A SUITCASE THAT LAY ON THE FLOORBOARD NEAR MY FEET, AND I SAT QUIETLY NEXT TO MY BIOLOGICAL DAD. A GRAVE SPIRIT SEEMED TO PERMEATE THE AIR AROUND US.

UNABLE TO SEE OVER THE DASHBOARD, I WAS MESMERIZED BY THE TRAILS OF RAIN ON THE WINDOWS. I THOUGHT BACK TO TWO YEARS EARLIER AND MY BIOLOGICAL MOTHER. HER MENTAL AND EMOTIONAL INSTABILITY HAD LED TO MANY DIFFICULT AND ABUSIVE MEMORIES.

AND ONE PARTICULAR NIGHT, WATCHING IN THE KITCHEN DOORWAY AFTER LISTENING TO YET ANOTHER TIRADE OF SCREAMS AND SHOUTS, I WATCHED AS SHE LEVELED A SHOTGUN AT MY DAD. THE GUN WENT OFF DURING THE ENSUING STRUGGLE, SHOOTING OUT THE WINDOW OVER THE SINK AND LITTERING THE BLUE COUNTERTOP WITH A MIXTURE OF GLASS SHARDS AND CORN FLAKES. MY MOTHER WAS COMMITTED TO THE SANITARIUM IN FERGUS FALLS THAT NIGHT.

UNABLE TO RUN A FARM ALONE AND CARE FOR A YOUNG DAUGHTER, MY DAD BROUGHT ME TO HIS PARENTS’ FARM HOME WHERE I GREW AND WENT TO CHURCH AND PLAYED WITH COUSINS. MY DAD WAS THERE OFTEN AND OCCASIONALLY WE WOULD EVEN GO TO VISIT MY MOTHER.

RETURNING MY THOUGHTS TO THE CAR, I PONDERED THE TWO STRANGERS IN THE BACKSEAT, NOT REALIZING THAT THEY WOULD BECOME MY NEW MOM AND DAD, AND I WOULD BE LEAVING FOR A NEW HOME IN THE TWIN CITIES THE FOLLOWING DAY.

MY DAD LAID HIS LARGE, WORK-WORN HAND ON MY SMALL, BONY KNEE AND LOOKED AT ME WITH A DEEP SADNESS IN HIS PALE BLUE EYES. 

“IT WILL BE OK, PEGGY ANN.”

A NEW LIFE

TWO YEARS AFTER MY FATHER GAVE ME UP FOR ADOPTION, IN THE MIDST OF MY NEW PARENTS’ DIVORCE, MY (NEW/ADOPTIVE) MOM AND I WATCHED IN TEARS AS OUR NEW HOME BURNED TO THE GROUND AND TURNED ALL OF OUR POSSESSIONS INTO A PILE OF ASHES. AMONG THEM WERE ALL PHOTOS AND MEMENTOS OF THE FAMILY I HAD LEFT BEHIND. 

INTERESTINGLY, MY PRE-TEEN SUMMERS WERE SPENT AT MY NEW AUNT AND UNCLES’ AND GRANDPARENTS’ FARM, WHICH WERE – UNBEKNOWNST TO ME – JUST A FEW SHORT MILES AWAY FROM FERGUS FALLS AND MY FIRST FAMILY.

AS A SURPRISE FOR MY HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION, MY MOM HAD CONTACTED MY INITIAL GRANDMOTHER AND REQUESTED REPLACEMENT PHOTOS OF MY EARLY YEARS FOR THE GIFT OF A SCRAPBOOK. REGRETTABLY, THE BOOK WAS NEVER FINISHED, BUT IT WOULD STILL SERVE TO PLAY A KEY ROLE IN MY LIFE STORY.

DURING MY GROWING UP YEARS, MEANWHILE, MY BIOLOGICAL DAD HAD ALSO REMARRIED AND HAD ANOTHER DAUGHTER AND TWO SONS, SETTLING IN THE SMALL COMMUNITY OF DEER CREEK/HENNING. HIS GRIEF OVER RELINQUISHING HIS OLDEST DAUGHTER WAS PROFOUND, AND HE OFTEN SHARED HIS SADNESS WITH HIS WIFE.

HE HAD KNOWN DEEP IN HIS HEART THAT RAINY APRIL NIGHT THAT HE WAS DOING WHAT WAS BEST FOR ME. STILL, AS THE YEARS OF MY ABSENCE TRUDGED ON, BOTH HE AND MY GRANDPARENTS REMAINED HOPEFUL THAT ONE DAY I MIGHT RETURN.

BEING A LARGE FAMILY OF FAITH, A PRAYER WOULD BE ISSUED UP EACH YEAR AT THEIR REUNION FOR MY HEALTH, HAPPINESS AND EVENTUAL HOMECOMING.

THE LORD CONTINUED TO WEAVE HIS PLAN IN MY LIFE HOWEVER, DESPITE MY OWN EMOTIONAL ROLLERCOASTER, AND IN MY MID-20S, I MARRIED MY HIGH SCHOOL SWEETHEART AND HAD FOUR PRECIOUS CHILDREN.

DURING A CHRISTMAS VISIT TO MY MOM’S HOME IN 1996, I FOUND SOME OLD PHOTO ALBUMS AND DECIDED TO TAKE A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE. THERE I DISCOVERED THE SCRAPBOOK THAT MOM HAD BEGUN SO MANY YEARS PREVIOUSLY.

AMONG THE VARIOUS PHOTOS OF ME AS A YOUNG CHILD WAS ONE THAT WAS MY DAD WITH ME ON HIS LAP JUST BEFORE I LEFT. ON THE BACK WAS WRITTEN HIS NAME AND DATE — EASTER, 1966. I FINALLY HAD THE CORRECT SPELLING OF HIS LAST NAME.

AT HOME, WE SEARCHED THE ONLINE DIRECTORY AND FOUND A LIST OF POTENTIAL NAMES IN THE FERGUS FALLS AREA.

RECONNECTING WITH DAD

JAN. 15, 1997, I DIALED THE FIRST NUMBER. AN ANSWERING MACHINE RESPONDED. A MESSAGE? “I THINK I’M THE DAUGHTER YOU GAVE AWAY 30 YEARS AGO?” NO, PROBABLY NOT A GOOD IDEA.

I CALLED THE NEXT NUMBER ON THE LIST. A MAN ANSWERED AND I BRIEFLY EXPLAINED THE REASON FOR MY CALL AND WONDERED IF HE KNEW THE MAN I WAS SEARCHING FOR? A LENGTHY, AWKWARD SILENCE WAS FOLLOWED BY AN EXCITED EXCLAMATION: “THIS IS PEGGY ANN??!!!” I REALIZED I HAD REACHED SOMEONE THAT RECOGNIZED ME.

I HAD REACHED ONE OF THE COUSINS THAT I HAD PLAYED WITH SO OFTEN AT MY GRANDPARENTS’ HOME. HE RECONFIRMED MY DAD’S PHONE NUMBER.

TAKING A DEEP BREATH ONCE AGAIN, I DIALED. MY MIND WAS RACING AND MY HEART POUNDED HARD.

RING.

WHAT HAD I BEEN THINKING?

RING.

THE LAST THING THIS MAN PROBABLY WANTED WAS FOR ME TO SHOW UP IN HIS LIFE AGAIN AFTER ALL THESE YEARS!

RING.

“HULLO?”

MY HEART CAUGHT IN MY THROAT. SO VERY MANY YEARS OF WISHING FOR THIS MOMENT, AND NOW I COULD BARELY SPEAK. SWALLOWING HARD, I PLUNGED IN.

“HELLO … I’M SORRY … I KNOW THIS IS A REALLY ODD CALL … BUT ... UMM … I’M PEGGY ANN … MY MOTHER’S NAME WAS RUTH … AND I BELIEVE I’M YOUR DAUGHTER...” ABSOLUTE SILENCE.

FAINTLY I THOUGHT I HEARD HIS VOICE CATCH. “PEGGY ANN? … OH! … OH MY! … OH MY GOSH! … YES … YES, I’M YOUR DAD.”

THE TEARS BEGAN TO POUR FROM BOTH OUR EYES. THE RELATIONSHIP RESTORATION PROCESS HAD BEGUN.

MY RETURN TO THE AREA OF MY BIRTH AND REUNION WITH MY BIOLOGICAL DAD AND EXTENDED FAMILY OCCURRED JUST A FEW SHORT WEEKS LATER. I WAS EMBRACED WARMLY AND WELCOMED “HOME” TO MY FAMILY OF ORIGIN.

ONE YEAR AFTER OUR REUNION, in 1998, MY FAMILY WAS RELOCATED TO THE DETROIT LAKES AREA, AND IN THE YEARS THAT FOLLOWED, WE BUILT MANY PRECIOUS AND ENDURING MEMORIES, PEPPERED WITH BOTH LAUGHTER AND TEARS WITH THE DAD THAT HAD NEVER GIVEN UP ON ME OR STOPPED LOVING ME.

TIME DOESN’T ALLOW ME TO SHARE THE RANGE OF FORGIVENESS, RESTORATION AND NEW BEGINNINGS THAT BOTH DAD AND I HAD EXPERIENCED SINCE THAT RAINY APRIL NIGHT IN ’67. MY SEARCH HAD TORN DOWN OLD WALLS THROUGH THE PAINFUL PROCESS OF LEARNING THAT IT WASN’T JUST MY OWN HEART IN NEED OF HEALING, BUT ALSO HIS.

ON JAN. 12 LAST YEAR, MY DAD WENT HOME TO BE WITH HIS LORD.

JEREMIAH 29:10 SAYS: “I WILL DO FOR YOU ALL THE GOOD THINGS I HAVE PROMISED AND I WILL BRING YOU HOME AGAIN FOR I KNOW THE PLANS I HAVE FOR YOU, SAYS THE LORD, THEY ARE FOR GOOD AND NOT FOR DISASTER. TO GIVE YOU A FUTURE AND A HOPE.” (AMP)

(P.A. ISAKSON IS A LIFE-STORY WRITER/CONSULTANT FOR HER BUSINESS, THE POTTER’S PEN, TURNING LIFE STORIES INTO LEGACIES.   WWW.THEPOTTERSPEN.COM. SHE LIVES IN DETROIT LAKES, MN WITH HER HUSBAND, JAMIE, AND HER CAVACHON PUPPY, OLIVER.)