Developments...

I'm speaking of developments on the adoption reunion front. I have still been continuing on with fairly regular contact with my mom, Sheri, my sister, Tara, and my brother, Jason. This has been good. No face to face meetings as of yet, but in the case of Tara, well that's completely understandable as she lives in Denmark. As for Sheri and Jason they are in Saskatchewan, but I just don't think our relationship is there yet. Things are moving along, perhaps a little slower than I would like, but it is happening...which in itself is exciting enough!

After an afternoon of facebook snooping, I was able to locate the man I believe to be my father. Now I can't guarantee anything, but judging from the information I can get from the internet, and when I combine that with the information Sheri has given me, I'm pretty sure that it is him. And while I'm sure me posting a picture of him definitely violates some privacy law, well, its my blog...so take that privacy laws! :P
From what I can garner from a high school reunion website he is 51 years old. He lives in Northern BC, and works as a liaison officer. He has a degree in Anthropology from SFU. He has two other children, a boy and a girl, both who I think are younger than me. And yes, you really can learn all of this about a complete stranger if you snoop long enough! I think I also found him on facebook. I did send him a message, and I really have no idea if he will reply. I think often for the father, there is just so much less connection to the child than their is for the Mother who carried the child for 9 months. We'll see. I would be interested to know him and learn more about his life, but I think when it comes to adoption reunions, my experience has already been pretty spectacular.

I made contact with my Mom's younger sister, Charlene. There are five children in the family, 4 girls, and one boy (Sheri is the 2nd oldest). Charlene is 36 years old and lives in the NWT. I have a hard time comprehending how I have an aunt who is 36 (only 8 years older than me), but when I consider that my Mom had me when she was 15, well, I think that explains it. She has two children, ages 6 and 4. She replied to my message and seemed quite pleased that I contacted her. She mentioned that I had made contact to her Mom, Violet, who said to say hi to me. I feel a huge connection to Violet, and I am hoping that there will be an opportunity to get to know her better.

Another part that I love about this is that I have more pictures to look at. Like to see my beautifully, chubby, Native Grandma (Violet) just thrills my heart. Or to look at pictures of my cousins, who are really the same age as my kids. But again, people...who look like me! I know that a non-adopted person can't entirely appreciate this fact, but often, I think people take for granted that they have their Mom's nose, or Grandfather's eyes. So pictures. Pictures of my people. I can't get enough.

I think the odd part with me connecting with Sheri's family is that Sheri didn't actually grow up with her family. Like me, she was adopted and raised in Kamloops, BC. She has spoken nothing of her adopted parents, although she speaks quite fondly of her brothers. So although I do know that she did reconnect with her family, mainly Violet, I don't think they are that close. So in a sense I almost feel like I am bypassing her to get to her family. But I also want to learn more about my band, the Sahtu Dene, as well as the genology of my family. So I'm hoping that I will not only get to know them, but also hopefully learn these things.

I keep telling Rob how we need to move up North so I can be close to "my people, and my land," to which he replies, "You already hate Albertan winters, you'd go crazy up North." But at least I figure the 24 long summer days might help. Regardless, I feel very drawn to my land. Hopefully one day I can see that dream realized, and the even more exciting part is that now I actually have "my people" to go meet.