FIFTEEN - Being a "Little Sister" for the first time in my life

My BIG BROTHER STEVE

Getting to know my BIG brother Steve

Once I knew for sure that the DNA match was for my Brother Steve, we started chatting on the phone. I assumed he lived in the USA, and was shocked to learn that Steve had been born right here in Toronto, same place as my sister Tina and I.  All those years we were searching in the Wrong damn place! I spoke to him for the first time during the first week of August. When I asked where he lived Now, he said Vancouver....Another shock! A few months earlier I had booked a short visit to Vancouver to visit family...would be there in 2 weeks....Did Steve want to meet...YES he DID!

The YING and YANG of discovery

How strange to meet your BIG brother when he is 68 and his Little sister (me) is 64 years old.

There was Sadness in the meeting...all the years lost, and the Biggest was my sister had passed away 9 years earlier. Tina would have been Thrilled that we found Steve.  And then of course, there was the fact that our mom was AWOL in Both our lives.

"BUT" there was also the BIG Happiness WOW factor....I finally found my BROTHER! 

Nothing else mattered, we found each other and everything else was in the PAST. I was more fortunate than Steve, because I always knew about HIM. Poor Big Brother Steve had NO idea about Tina and I, or many facts about our mom. ( he was told his mom was "NORA JENNINGS" )

MEETING for the FIRST time in our 60's

It's a strange feeling of worry, excitement and a bit of fear in the anticipation of meeting a sibling for the first time. Steve's partner SUE recorded our first hug and allowed us to prattle on like we knew each other for decades. I brought Steve some documents and photos. It's kind of a shock to learn my brother Steve has never seen a picture of his mother....almost surreal. Here I was upset that I had only 3 wedding photos, and here my brother had NEVER seen her face.

We sat at the restaurant going over all the documents etc and I tried to remember any little tidbit to share with Steve. I could tell he "Needed" to know Everything.

It was comforting to know that the biggest hurdle of finding each other was done. It is not just a NEW page for Both of us, it is a new BOOK. We can put a Positive spin on everything from this point on!

FORTEEN - MEET "my Brother from the same Mother" SUCCESS!!!

Meeting my Brother STEVE for the FIRST time in my life!!!

LIFE SURPRISES for the SIBLINGS!

My earliest memory when I learned I had a brother, was when I was perhaps 4 years old. I was using scissors to cut out these cute little Cartoon babies I found in a book. My mom (Lenora Jennings Veri) walked in the room, and burst into tears....I was aghast and didn't understand what I had done wrong. Mom explained the book was for her "Little Boy Baby" I don't remember what she said about why the Baby Boy was gone, I just remember that she was quite upset. I Never forgot about my mom telling me about the Little Baby Boy.

Because my mom has been AWOL since 1965 and my father (Peter Veri) would never discuss her, my facts were mostly Guesses. I never knew "how or where" my parents met, fell in love or married. Most of my information has been either "Assuming" or from some dedicated research. 

The only thing I knew for sure, was my mom was born in Kentucky...that's it. 

I heard my mom worked at a hotel in Chicago as a Cigerette Girl, and my father perhaps used to be a Bartender at the same hotel. My father also told my sister Tina and I that he told mom he wouldn't raise another man's child. Mom put her "little Baby Boy" up for adoption and my parents were married in 1953. I "Assumed" the baby was not much older than me, so maybe born 1952?

" ANCESTRY.CA " Success story!

Years ago my father told a cousin that my mom's baby boy was named "STEVE or STEVEN" and lived in Dayton Ohio. So that's where I concentrated my searches all these years, mainly in Dayton, and Chicago....couldn't find a thing! I was looking under "Jennings" but realized it was a long shot because the baby had gone up for adoption before 1953.

Didn't matter where Tina and I searched, there was no info on mom's first born. Even relatives would look at me funny, saying they never heard about mom having a previoud child.

THANK GOODNESS FOR ANCESTRY DNA TEST!

WHO is this DNA match who doesn't respond to my Monthly Messages!

So I wrote to the first 50 DNA matches, but kept strick notes on the top 10 matches. Every MONTH I would write, and kept a record of the message, the date and anything else of interest. Strangley enough I did get some responses, but not from the top 5. Most of the replys were adoptees looking for info on Their birth family....sadly I didn't have any info to give them.

The top 5 matches were the difficult ones. You try hard Not to get discouraged. WHY aren't I getting any replies, WHY did they take a DNA test if they won't answer - blah, blah, blah. You must "shake it off" and start the next day with a new Positive attitude. Finally with some creative messaging, my FORTH best DNA match wrote back. We exchanged quite a few emails and he sent me the First photos I had ever seen of my mom's oldest sister Dolores!

Then I heard back from my THIRD Dna match, then number TWO....but who is number ONE? On August 1st I decided to write ONE MORE TIME ( 6 months AFTER my first message ) A week later I got a response, they wanted to know a bit more about me. I gave them my mom's name, plus a few more tidbits - - - but I did NOT tell them that I thought the male DNA was actually my Brother ( I've read you Never do that, you might scare them away, better to move Slow ) I checked my email a few times every hour. Finally I heard back from his wife  who wrote me saying " I have been stalking all your Social Media pages, OMGawd I think you are Steve's sister" 
 UREEKA I FINALLY found my BROTHER!!!!