The excitement of meeting many “new” family members had been fueling Erin and I for several weeks at this point. It was great to initially connect with so many and we continued to build a relationship and connection with several family members we had been meeting virtually. In fact, Andrew and Melissa, continued to stay in contact as well as Uncle Joe and Aunt Lois. And every time we connect it seemed to solidify these people are part of our family and we’ve been welcomed in.
Not long after we had our big ZOOM reunion call, Erin and I received our first email back from Kit. This first contact was very emotional as it helped us begin to get some answers and start a conversation with Kit about the life we never knew. In turn, it opened up many more questions that we would come to answer in time. It was around this time that conversations started about getting together and meeting in person. Logistically, it would take a lot of time and effort; but at least for now we all agreed it was a great idea and something to work on.
Andrew and Melissa continued to be in touch regularly and we’ve enjoyed our relationship growing through group chats, phone calls, Facetime, and hilarious joke sharing! It turns out, many members of our new-found family share the same sarcastic humor that Erin and I do! Hmmm, that’s a fun thing to learn. And so, Andrew and Melissa have truly helped navigate this process with us and it has meant the world to us. It was then settled that they were going to make a weekend trip to Phoenix from Colorado, and I was going to fly down from Minnesota to meet up with Erin and Drew and Grayson. We made some quick plans and then in June we all met up and it was awesome. Getting to meet these two in person was wonderful. We spent a couple days just hanging out and talking and getting to know each other and more of the family. We shared stories of what we knew, what we didn’t know, what we missed, and what we hoped we could do in the future. For all intents and purposes, these couple days laid the groundwork for what would soon be the most anticipated moment Erin and I had always waited for.
What we took away from our quick visit with Andrew and Melissa in Arizona, is that we definitely need to meet more family, in person, whenever possible. The stories shared back and forth just reinforced how important it was for us to finally meet. Like I’ve said before, a lot of this is bittersweet too. I remember being on the plane flying back to Minnesota and thinking about the last couple of days. And it hit again, the thoughts of what could have been and the lives we may have had, crept in. In no way were these thoughts in opposition to the lives we have or how we were raised; not at all. What was an occasional thought when I was younger, all the way to more recently, this thought of Who our birth father was and if there was other family, was all coming to life and opening up. Others had painted a picture for us with many stories of the family – recent and old ones – and I felt the void that was in my gut for decades, slowly start to fill in. It was an awesome feeling actually.
After the weekend meet up in Arizona, we moved full speed ahead into finding how to set up meeting more family – specifically for us to meet Kit, finally. And again, Andrew and Melissa took a big role here with Uncle Joe and Aunt Lois to make this happen. We had bounced around ideas of how and where we can all meet up. We had decided that it would be best to keep this meet up smaller and more intimate as well considering the impact we were all facing of meeting for the first time (that Erin and I remember at least). Keep in mind, none of this side of our family had seen us in over 48 years and had no idea where we were until only a couple months before, so this would be a BIG meet up. Uncle Joe and Aunt Lois were adamant to make this happen and, with that, they worked with Andrew and Melissa to secure a weekend rental for a house in Winter Park, CO. We knew there wasn’t going to be an easy place for any of us to get to since we are all living across the country. Everyone was going to be making a trip of some kind, and so, the planning commenced. Eventually, the dates were set, travel plans were made and the excitement continued to build.
Erin and I had gone back and forth with Kit via email in the meantime. We started slow in our correspondence not knowing exactly where our thoughts and words would take us. But it was all nice, informative, and we got to know more of the man we never knew… a little bit at a time, even if it was only through email for now. Aunt Lois and Uncle Joe continued to find some additional photos and share some stories in the lead up to our meeting in Winter Park. We got to know some history about our grandparents and their parents as well. We learned about some of the family adventures being part of a military family and how they made many moves as a family whenever our Grandfather was transferred both here in the U.S. and abroad. We also got a bit more information into Kit’s career and life, which helped explain some things for Erin and I too. In the back of my head, for some time now, I’m thinking about how truly amazing this story has become thus far. And now that we are only days away from finally meeting our birth father and his family (our family too), there is a tremendous story to tell maybe. This is about the time I started taking my notes and updating more information and getting more details, in hopes that I can tell and share this story. And thankfully, we still had more to learn about each other.
August 17th 2024, I took off for Denver from Minneapolis as excited and giddy as I had ever been probably. Ryan, my oldest daughter, had dropped me at the airport nice and early so I could settle in with a cocktail and a coffee (yes, both work great). Erin was flying up to Denver from Phoenix and due to arrive first. Aunt Lois and Uncle Joe were flying in to Denver from Baltimore and they were in the air already. Kit and Mary Jean had driven in from Dallas and arrived the evening before with Andrew and Melissa at the rental home in Winter Park. They had already squared away everything in the home for the rest of us. Erin landed easily and headed for the rental pick up. I landed and headed to meet up with Aunt Lois and Uncle Joe for the first time… and thankfully for me, I was able to do it by sneaking up behind them and surprising them! That was an awesome meet up – a bit overwhelming – but we kept ourselves in check until we got out of the airport. Erin wasn’t far away waiting for us and came by and we loaded up and headed off for the mountains in Winter Park.
After loading up the rental, we headed up to the mountains of Winter Park, CO to continue this weekend meet up celebration. The drive up was nice and it gave Erin and I ample time to talk more with Uncle Joe and Aunt Lois. Of course, the closer we got, the more nervous Erin and I got. We crested Berthoud Pass at about 11,000 feet and started down towards Winter Park, 15 minutes away. At this point, there was no more planning out what to say, or what to do, or how to react to this moment. The moment was here and we rolled into the driveway….
Thankfully Melissa and Andrew met us in the driveway and helped navigate the moment and we got through the early pleasantries and greetings with them and Aunt Lois and Uncle Joe. Kit and Mary Jean soon emerged from the house and my heartbeat increased, Erin got a little quiet (unusual for her) and he came to greet us, and offer a handshake… and a BIG hug for both Erin and I. This was it! Here time stood still for several minutes. The world around Erin and I got eerily quiet and calm. It took some time as this moment sunk in. And, honestly, at that very time it was more joy and happiness with smiles and laughter being shared, rather than any tears. Tears would come and go over the next couple days. We settled into the house and kicked off a weekend of conversation and sharing of memories, questions and answers were flying back and forth and I did my best to keep taking notes. But in every moment throughout the weekend it was more important to just be present and in the company of each other… our reunited family.
I've Been Thinking 