How Ned Found Ann

Friday afternoon I got a knock on the door, and it was my neighbor Ann. Ann is an elderly woman that lives across the street with her husband Jim.  It's not very often that Ann comes over, so I was a little surprised, and I confess, a little frightened.  Ann is a very talkative sort of person.  She will just talk your ear off for hours if you let her.  Her husband, on the other hand, is a very soft spoken person who likes to spend his time keeping the bushes trimmed, and the lawn mowed, and afterwards he will practice putting with his clubs in front of his house.  Ann likes to sew.  She sews doll clothes.  I don't know why she sews doll clothes; but I suspect after raising three boys, she always had the desire for a girl.  I don't know..  I'm just assuming-it's a bad habit of mine. 

Anyway, there is Ann standing at my front door holding a neighborhood newspaper wanting  to know if I was finished with it.  I found it to be kind of odd, because I didn't even think it was my paper, but I told her she could have it.  I kind of think she knew this anyway, and she just felt the need to talk to someone.  On the front page of this tiny newspaper was a picture of a woman in an article who shared Ann's family name.  It was not a common name, and Ann was curious about the lady in the paper.  She wondered if possibly this woman may be a long lost relative. I told her that it "was a small world" and who knows, may be she was related to this person. 

 Well, that just opened up a can of worms. 

Ann proceeded to tell me the following story.  As she continued on with it, I found it very sweet, interesting, and inspiring.  I thought you may enjoy it, as much as I surprisingly did.

How Ned Found Ann

When Ann was younger, in a time when children were better left seen than heard, she always had a knowledge of another sibling who was born before her.  This sibling was a baby that was "given away."  She would hear the adults talk about this baby a number of times.  She would always hear them talk in the background during family gatherings especially.  Ann was expected to play with her dolls, and pretend not to listen, but she could still hear them whispering and speak of the "baby".  She grew up knowing about this baby  throughout her childhood.  It was always assumed that this baby lived some place far away.  As Ann got older, her curiosity of  this baby grew even stronger.

"Where is the baby?"  she would ask.

Many times she wasn't given an answer, or she was scolded.  She wasn't supposed to know of this baby.  Sometimes she was told to "forget" about the baby, and still other times she was told the baby "was gone"  not dead, but just "gone". 

 Of course this "baby" brother or sister was always on Ann's mind throughout childhood and into adulthood.  She could not forget there was someone out there, and wondered if that little baby had grown into an adult that often wondered the possibility of a sister.  When she old enough to have children of her own, she often wondered how her parents could have sent a baby away.  Apparently, her father had a child from a previous marriage.  The circumstances are unclear, but Ann's mother refused to take on the responsibilities of raising this child, and so the baby was sent away and adopted into another family.  Ann would often times wonder, and pray that one day she would find this baby.

On one of these particular days, while she was outside hanging out her laundry, she noticed a beautiful cloud formation in the sky.  She stood there, awe strucked, and immediately thought of her lost brother or sister.  She closed her eyes and said a prayer.  She prayed that God would grant her a moment either on Earth or in heaven that she  have at least one opportunity to KNOW who this lost sibling was.  "Please, Jesus let me know this baby.  Let me be able to know who my sibling is, even if it just for the opportunity to embrace him or her." 

A few days passed, and Ann got a phone call.  The phone call was from a cousin on her father's side of the family.  Ann found it a little peculiar since she hadn't seen this cousin in a number of years, and it was odd that he should call out of the blue.  After some chit chat, her cousin mentioned of a phone conversation he had received a few weeks ago.  It so happens, a woman had called his house saying that she felt that her father may be related to his family. 

It so happens, that this woman's father's name was Ned.  Ever since his adoptive parents had past away he had a strong desire to find his biological family.  He  was married, and had raised seven children of his own, all the while searching for his lost family.  Ned had no idea he was adopted until he joined the service,  when it was discovered that he had two birth certificates.  After his time in the service, during WW II, he became a truck driver.  He had the desire to travel, and back in those days (the early 50's) it was the perfect job for him.  In each town he would drive into, in each state, he would find time to find the city court house.  There he would try and locate his family records.  His attempts proved to be unsuccessful until recent years. 

With the help of the internet, his daughter was finally able to find Ann and her family.  Ann's prayers had been finally answered.  Against tremendous odds, her 85 year old brother was alive and well, standing at her doorstep with open arms, bearing a striking resemblance to Ann's younger brother. 

 Yes, prayers do get answered! 

Tags: adopted, biological family, prayers