A new beginning

When it comes our children, we as parents pass on far more than just simply DNA.

A month ago I shared with you my story about my daughter (Sara Elizabeth) who I gave up for adoption at the age of 15.

Well now she's 20 years old and was recently in Happy Valley-Goose Bay for a visit.

As her flight touched down last Friday, my stomach began to do flip-flops and my head was spinning, but from the moment she walked off the plane and into my arms I felt such a deep connection and bond with her.

She is everything I've ever dreamed she'd be and more.

Katelynn, which is what her name is now, fit right into our little world like she's always been there and she has.

My other daughters, Natasha, 18, and Emily, 15, were not only ecstatic to have a big sister, they were happy to finally have a connection with a girl they've known all their life, well in a way.

As we all sat up talking for hours and playing rock band, I couldn't help but stare at this beautiful girl, who was a part of me.

Not only does she look like me but also she behaves like me. Both her and I sit the same, toss our heads back when we laugh, have similar thought patterns, have a quirky sense of humor and love to laugh.

I was amazed by just how much she is like me even though she's never lived with me.

Now although we've all have one heck of a great time together, I've struggled with guilt I've held onto for the past 20 years.

I've always kept a baby photo of Katelynn (Sara Elizabeth) on my wall right between my other two girls. At one point she looked at the photo and said, "I'll give you a better photo and you can take that one down."

Now I'd love to have photos of her, and of course I've taken a million since she's been here, but I'm not ready to take that photo off my wall.

For the past 20 years, I've loved and long for Sara Elizabeth (Katelynn), that perfect baby who wasn't in my life, I'm just not ready to let go of her yet.

Although my emotions have been all over the place, I must say Katelynn has made it very easy for me to put them at bay and move on with the new chapter in my life.

I can't even explain how I've felt over the past week seeing the beautiful smiling faces of my three girls everyday; it's been overwhelming.

I've wondered about her and prayed for her, and today she is a spectacular young lady, for this I thank her parents.

There are not enough words or thank yous that could be extended to them for bringing up such a wonderful girl, it's not hard to tell just how much they've loved and adored her.

At one point during her visit, Katelynn said she thinks she'd like to move to HV-GB. Well my heart skipped a beat as the words rolled off her tongue, I couldn't imagine anything more perfect than her close to me.

Now as I write this column, she's probably still all curled up sound a sleep, and I miss her.

She will be leaving HV-GB on Saturday and I really can't imagine her not being here. I know when she leaves I will have to deal with the same emotions that I felt 20 years ago, but this time it will be different. This time I can call her, I can email her, I can still hear her beautiful voice and see her beautiful face and know that when I make my trip back to PEI next summer, I will again get to her hold her in my arms.

I hold on strong to this new chapter in my life, not only for me, but also for all three of my daughters, as it's the beginning of a long lasting relationship for us all.

I want to extend a thank you to all of you who sent letters, and emails filled with very kind words. Also Thank you to Mayor Leo Abbass for dropping off a package about our town for Katelynn; heres hoping it will entice her to come back over and over again.