Jonathan: Found
Monday, January 28, 2008, 6:14 PM

On December 15, 2007, the boy my sister gave up for adoption nineteen years ago called her out of the blue. She said the call went something like this:

"Uh, scree, hi. This is skritsch-swish-flish-ing-warble."

(That's me trying to write what it sounds like when you get a bad phone connection.)

"What? Who's this?" Rhonda asked crankily because she doesn't like talking on the phone.

"Yabba-dabba-swish Name."

Immediately, she thinks the caller is somehow related to my ex husband and that he's trying to get ahold of me. "Let me call you back," she said (still cranky).

So she did and this time, the connection was clear.

"This is Jonathan. And...I think you gave a boy up for adoption nineteen years ago...and I think I'm him."

"Shut up!" she screamed.

You have to understand my sister--she yells when she gets excited. If you hear her, you know it's not an angry yell, but her Dorothy waking up in Oz yell. It didn't scare Johnathan off, either, because three days later he drove from Indiana to Michigan to meet his birth mom. He met his half-brother, Harley the dog (who kept trying to french kiss him), and felt comfortable enough with them all that he stayed for a couple of nights.

She said she didn't cry (by then she'd cried out all her happy tears), and neither did he. But we learned later from Jonathan's fiance that he'd been up all night the day he discovered Rhonda's letter and the photos. I imagine it was some damn heady stuff to work through for him.

He decided to spend Christmas Day with our family, something that took me and Oogie by surprise because normally, one spends Christmas Day with his family. But Johnathan assured us that his parents were okay with it. I think they were not okay with it, but didn't want to let him know. His parents never hid the fact that he and his sister were both adopted. From the photos he brought of them all, they looked like good people and I think Rhonda realizes that Jonathan has a good life, that he is well loved and adjusted.

I did a double-take when I first saw him. He is the spitting image of his birth dad and Rhonda's first born son, Matt. Jonathan even talks like his birth dad--they both speak slowly and kind of draw out their vowels. It's uncanny. I asked him if he did a double-take when he met his dad or Matt, but he said he didn't so I guess he doesn't look in the mirror much.

He has Rhonda's love for being busy, and being with lots of people. He has her blue eyes. And anyone can tell he's in love with the idea of meeting his mom--and with his mom. He and Rhonda already seem so close. And I'm so happy for my sister. This really was the very best Christmas present she could have received.

It was a durn good holiday for family.
9 Did the Unhingey Jiggy Engage in Unhingenosity
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