The Story continues....
Friday morning I got up finished packing, said my goodbyes to my family and headed to Tastefully Simple on Tour in Baltimore MD with Ashley (my team member and new youth pastor's wife). We were on the road by 8:45 am and ready for some girl time in the city - lunch at Cheesecake Factory and a great conference. As we got into the heart of the city and traffic my GPS which is also my phone started spouting off directions as my phone was ringing with a call from California. I had to answer - this was the call I was waiting for - but ... I didn't know where I was going so I answered quickly and asked if I could call her back when I could get off the next exit. She said you will want to get off asap! Little did I know that it is also illegal to talk on the phone while driving in MD (so sorry MDPD, I won't let it happen again). We had to drive for what seemed like 10 miles to find an exit so we pulled into this little run down gas station (which just happened to have a Wells Fargo ATM which Ashley was looking for) It was a little sketchy but I figured God was going to keep us safe! So I called Bonnie and she told me her name was Nancy! A name - it may sound so strange but knowing a name was such a new thing - in my mind she was always a question, a thought, a mysterious woman that I was not sure if I would ever meet, so a name made it real! And she said I have siblings - oh my - this just keeps getting more and more excitingly overwhelming..... and Bonnie said she is waiting by the phone for you to call................
Waiting by the phone - I am at a gas station in the city - I have to get to the conference, we have a lunch all set up - how do I call her now.... I don't want to call say hello and say I have to go... that wouldn't be very nice at all..... How do I tell her I want to talk to her but my day is insane.... and if it were me and I was waiting by the phone and no one called I would be worrying all day - doesn't she want to talk to me, maybe she isn't going to call.... oh my - what to do????????
So I did what ever good wife does and I called my husband and asked him the ultimate favor - can you call my birthmother and let her know I will call this afternoon..... what a jem - he said yes! And even better he videoed himself calling her..... (however between you and me I still haven't watched the whole thing because he was all choked up and I was around a bunch of people and trying to hold it all together) so it is still on my phone waiting to be watched!
So we got to our hotel, went to lunch and at lunch I realized - my phone is dying I only have 20% left and my charger is back at the hotel but Joel told her I would call her at 1pm. Thankfully Ashley knew a few tricks to helping my battery last longer. Our cheesecake came at 1pm and i didn't even finish my whole piece (so you know I was nervous, because cheesecake is my favorite!) I walked around the mall to see if I could find a place to talk but nothing seemed private enough so I bundled up and went out to sit on the pier (perfect until this really load boat kept coming back and forth right in front of me, if I moved he moved, not real happy with that guy, didn't he realize I was calling my birthmom for the first time EVER!!!!
So I dialed the phone and said this was Jana Snyder - Bonnie had given her my name so thankfully I didn't have to break the news to her that I was her daughter - I think that would have been even more difficult. Many people have asked what I said, what she said, what we talked about, but I can honestly say it was so surreal and a bit overwhelming that I don't actually remember all the details - I only had a half hour to talk before we needed to head back to the conference. I told her about my family, and she about hers, she told me about her blood clotting disorder (the same one I have) I asked about my birthfather (who died of MS) and she didn't know too much as they didn't stay together when she had me. She told me how much she loved me and thought about me, and prayed for me..... and I for her. And we talked about getting on facebook to see pictures and set up a time to get together.
To confirm what Joel says about me - I am guarded - I knew the only way I could have this conversation was in a guarded fashion as I had no time to process any of this and being surrounded by hundreds of TS ladies was not helping me display my outwardly emotional side as you can imagine.
What was it like you ask? Surreal, exciting, overwhelming, and oh my goodness I can't believe this is happening (is that an emotion, if not it should be)
TO BE CONTINUED........
No comments:
Post a Comment