My new sister!

So at 31 years old, I now have another sister! Actually it is a long story. When I was 20 yrs old in the summer of 1999, I went to prison to meet my real dad, Kenny, as God had healed me of the pain in my past and at that time, I had to meet him. While talking with him, he told me that my mom had given birth to a girl before she met him and gave her up for adoption. He also told me that the family didn't know this bit of information. So for 2 years I didn't ask nor say anything to my family. Then one day as I was visiting my Aunt Babby, something was said and she informed me that one day she has something to tell me. I told her I knew what it was and she didn't believe me. I preceded to relay the information to her that Kenny relayed to me. She confirmed indeed, that my mom did have a daughter that she gave up for adoption. She also informed me that the only family that knew was her and my grandma. Apparently my mom hid from the family as she was working for the carnival when she got pregnant. She knew abortion wasn't an option and being 19 yrs old, she wasn't prepared to raise her baby on her own. So she found a nice family that was willing to take care of her baby. Apparently my mom didn't tell my grandma and aunt about the baby until after she had given birth and given her up for adoption. So when it was confirmed by my aunt, she had no information about the girl and due to my mom being deceased, I never thought I would ever meet my sister. I kept this secret quiet from the family that never knew, as there was no reason to upset anyone over a situation that I never thought would come to light. So fast forward to this year, 2011. This week I received an email from my brother Andrew that I have to contact this woman that contacted him saying she was our sister. So on Thursday morning, I called this woman and chatted with her for over an hour. Her name is Datra and she had been searching for our mom for many years. Apparently when my mom had given her up for adoption, she also wrote a letter to my grandma and my aunt Babby and asked the adoptive mom to mail it when she called her and told her to. My mom never called her so the adoptive mom never mailed the letter. She kept it in a pocketbook for many years. About 15 yrs ago, Datra found the letter and it was addressed to my grandmother, in my hometown in Warren, PA. So for the past 15 years, Datra has sent letters to my grandmother and also to a few Debra Vantassels', all to no avail. My grandma had moved and considering that our mom died in 1982, the Debra Vantassels were all the wrong women. Finally on Tuesday this past week, Datra finally got a lead. A woman who was helping her search for her birth mom discovered that her mom had died, along with her grandmother in whom the letter was written to. This devastated Datra as she lost hope of ever meeting with her birth mom. The woman sent her a copy of our mom's obituary and the article about her death. The obituary listed my brother and myself as my mom's children. Datra then decided that she wanted to find us now that she found that we existed. So she decided to go to social networking to find some answers. And guess what??? She found us both on facebook!!! She then emailed us and that leads us to where we are today! I am so excited that my sister found me!! I can't believe it and would never have believed it would happen. Apparently, we are 19 1/2 months apart in age and after viewing her on Facebook, I definitely see a resemblance in my mom and myself! It is amazing! I had a similar situation happen when I was 19 years old and in college when I found out then that I had a brother and sister that I never knew about, from my bio father. However, in that situation, my family knew they existed, but chose not to tell us, nor let us visit them growing up. That is a whole different story but includes an outcome of another brother and sister that I have enjoyed greatly getting to know. I look forward to meeting Datra this summer and getting to know her along with my new niece and nephews. My life has been interesting to say the least. My husband says I need to write a book! Maybe one day I will write about my traumatic experiences, the hurt, pain, joys, blessings I have experienced in my life. Whether I do or not, know that God has given me life in my pain, has healed me in my hurt and has blessed me in abundance and I rejoice in His love and forgiveness!