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Perhaps it’s time for a brief intermission from the saga of sorrow that’s become the hallmark of my existence—a little palate cleanser, if you will. I recently received a couple of reader questions, and one in particular caught me off guard. It was a bit trippy, honestly, because it asked…

The date was still February 4th, 2019 but the hours had flown by and it was then 8:16pm. “Ding.” A different sound this time. The soft, familiar flutter of a Facebook messenger message. All sounds coming from my cell phone had made me a bit jumpy by this point. haha…

The digital clock on my phone screen held fast the time 12:13 PM. I’d just popped on to check the Estimated Date of Results page on Ancestry. Estimated Date for Results: February 6. Three days. Seventy-two hours to live in this strange, suspended reality between all that I have ever…

How is this even possible? I thought, as I hung up the phone and tossed it with a thud that echoed louder than it should have. No matches. Zero. Niente. Nada. Zilch. The kind of nothing that makes your stomach drop and your brain spiral into a full-blown existential crisis.…

OK, back on track. Chronologically speaking, this next segment picks up right where Post #20: Three Amigos left off — the moment my world tilted just a little more on its axis. Finding out the names of my biological grandparents was like cracking open a vault I didn’t even know…

What is a sibling, really? Yes, biologically, a sibling is someone who shares a parent with you. But that’s just the skeleton of it. The essence of a sibling is something far more elusive, layered up like a croissant dough on its 3rd fold. It’s not about shared DNA –…

I was staring at the screen, unable to blink, unable to breathe. The words blurred then sharpened, blinking in and out of view like the Christmas tree lights in A Christmas Story – without the cursing and fuse blowing, of course. I closed out of every tab—messages, maps, social media…

December, 2018 I’ve never in my life been so relieved to see a month end. November—one long, hellish, soul-sucking stretch of time—was finally over. Turning that calendar page felt like ripping off emotional duct tape after weeks of pretending I was fine. Yes, everyone knows about my love of the…

I realized there had indeed been life before I landed in Nutley—a short history somewhere buried. I was determined to uncover the path that led me to my forever home and family. It was no longer just curiosity; it was a strong need to connect pieces; to see a full…