The Story of My Life: The Journey Continues

In the last blog that I wrote,  I told you about how my relationship with Carol had ended.  You can read all about it here.  It had been less than two months since I had found her and my birth siblings.  So much had happened and so very quickly.  When she decided she was not interested in having a relationship with me, in my heart I determined that I was going to do everything I could to figure out who my birth father was. The door had been cracked and I really wanted to know what circumstances had led to my existence and who the other part of that puzzle included. I had always liked a good mystery so I was up for the challenge.

At the end of September, I went on a two week missions trip. I visited the Challenge Farm for a second 

time. The Challenge Farm is a home, located in Kitale, Kenya,  where they take in orphaned and abandoned children. Many of the children come from the streets, where they have been sniffing glue or kerosene. These substances serve as a drug to numb them from the pain they feel of being hungry or cold.  During the time at the Challenge Farm, I was able to share with the kids the story of me finding my birth mom and birth siblings.  I told them how God can do what seems impossible at times.  His plan is so much greater than ours, and He can lay down the details years in advance for things to come to be. This was exactly what He had done for me and I was thankful for the opportunity to publicly praise him for it and hopefully encourage someone else with my story at the same time.  

The opportunity to be involved with the students and staff was a refreshing one for me.  It was nice to be able to focus on other people for a while and not to think about everything that was going on with me.  Despite the ebola epidemic that was going on in Africa at the time of my visit (it was very, very far away from me), here is the picture of the only Ebola I brought home with me.   It is a silly nickname I still call my keychain to this day. 

Once home from Africa, I was able to focus on my search again. I wasn't really sure about how to start looking for my birth father, so I decided to start by searching for Carol's birth family.  I had learned from Jessie and briefly from Carol, that they had been in contact with each other at some point in the past. I figured they would be open to communicating with me and at least answering whatever questions they could about Carol and her adoption situation.  Jessie had mentioned at one point in time that she knew what our biological grandmother's name was, so I asked her again what it was.  She told me that our grandmother's name was Joyce Bricker and that she knew she had passed away about ten years or so ago. Jessie also said that her mom had forbidden any of them to ever try to get in touch with her birth family.  At this point, I didn't care about that.  Carol had no authority over me and I was curious and wanted to know more about where I had come from.  

Once I had a name, I got busy searching.  There is a picture of my grandmother and the man she eventually married on her tombstone.  I remember finding this photo and just staring at the face of this cute little lady who had birthed the one who had birthed me. I also found her obituary and it contained more information about the family, including the fact that Carol had four surviving half-siblings that were living in Ohio. I began looking for them and eventually found them on Facebook.  I debated for a while whether I was actually going to contact them, but then I did it.  On the morning of November 14, 2014,  I sent a message to Pam who was one of the sisters and also my half-aunt.

Here is what it said:

Hey Pam! I realize that you don't know me so this message might seem a bit strange. My name is Lorena Hungerford. I was adopted in 1973 as an infant and just this past summer, through a series of events that I totally believe were planned by God, I was reconnected with my birth family. I have met my three birth siblings in person, but have not yet met my birth mother. She also was adopted as an infant and has not been very willing to share much about her biological family. Through talking with my half-sister and doing some googling,I came across your name. I was wondering if you may know a woman named Carol Close. She is my birthmother. I was told her birthmother's name was Joyce Bricker. I know that was your mother's name, but I am not sure if it is the same lady or not. My birthmother told me that she had been contacted by her birthmother at some point and my half-sister told me that she thought one of my birth mother's biological sisters had also tried to contact her. If by chance this is her, would you have any information you might be willing to share? I apologize if this catches you off guard or upsets you in any way. After 41 years of not knowing anything about my background, I have been excited to finally learn things about myself that I never thought I would know. I know my biological siblings have had questions too that they have never had answered because of her hesitancy to talk about it. I appreciate you taking the time to read this. Sincerely, Lorena


Later that afternoon, Pam replied to me. She said, "Lorena, you can call me..." and then gave me her number. "Yes, my mother is Joyce Bricker."