Wow, so, wow...

OK, so the conversation has come and gone. It started out fairly intensely. She was very emotional, I wasn't (which surprised me). So we kind of beat around the bush at the beginning, but eventually I felt like those walls came down, and we really did get down to the nitty gritty. Once I think we both got over the initial shock, the conversation came more naturally, and actually ended up lasting over an hour.

Eventually the conversation was able to become more lighthearted and she was able to joke with me a bit. She shared nothing about her past, but was happy to talk about her family and my siblings. She also told me quite a bit about the circumstances surrounding my adoption. She repeated many times how grateful she was that I called her and wanted to know her. I was able to put it out there that I felt no resentment or bitterness towards her.

I thought to keep it simple, I'd share some interesting facts I learned...

My birth Mother lives in Saskatchewan. A 6.5 hour drive from Edmonton.

She has three adopted brothers, because like me, she too was adopted at birth.

She has 4 biological half siblings.

I have a half sister.

I have a half brother.

If you haven't done the math yet, I am the oldest of three children.

My half siblings were raised in BC. Only a few hours from where I was raised.

The name she gave me was Mellissa Anne ("two l's, two s's" she was keen to point out).

I am from a band in the NWT.

My maternal Grandmother lives off the land up north. She recently returned from a duck hunt.

It took 11 days for me to be adopted because my birth Mother really hoped that my father would return and take responsibility. On day 11 she finally gave up hope and signed the adoption papers. She ran into him at the mall later that same day. I get the impression he had a change of heart, but at that point they felt it was too late.

All she will say about her life is that she "lost her way" for many years.

So there you have it folks. I feel like I have a lot to process over the next couple days. I can't even really describe how I feel about it. I guess relieved, but it also doesn't give me this key to who I am or anything like that. I feel like I have been able to establish my life not knowing things like my band or my birth father's name. Perhaps those are just facts.

Honestly I think the key in my adoption story is that my parent's have always been quick to point out that I was given in love. They never taught me to feel resentment or anger. That I was such a gift to them. That if anything, my birth Mother made a sacrifice. I have always had a positive view of my adoption, and now that I come to this point of reunion, I really do have peace about it.

Sherri said that she will never say that she "gave me up" for adoption. She said I never "gave you up" but I "placed you" for adoption. She closed the conversation, again, quite emotional, and she told me that she loved me, and always has. Now I'd say that was a pretty positive first reunion phone call!