Last night I was sitting at my brother's house watching a movie. At 9:40 pm my phone rang, so I looked at it. It was a Maryland number. I don't know anyone from Maryland who would be calling, so I ingored it. A few minutes later, it rang again. Same number, so I figured what the heck and answered it. The guy on the other end asked "Is this Johnny?" I said yes, and he proceeded to introduce himself. My first thought is "oh no, here we go with the sales script" but he wasn't selling anything. I won't give his name, so I'll just call him Bob." Bob is 56 years old, the same age as me. Bob's mother died a few years ago and on her deathbed she admitted that the man who he'd known all his life wasn't really his Father. Bob was conceived while his mother was separated from the man he knew as his Father. She admitted that she had met a sailor at a gas station during that separation and had an affair with him. She got pregnant and when she found out she went to tell the sailor but found out that he was deployed. By the time he returned from deployment she had reconciled with her husband and decided to keep it a secret. Since Bob found out he's been doing a ton of work trying to find his real Father's family. He's done genetic testing, tons of homework and even hired a private investigator. That brings us to his phone call. He asked if my wife's name was Beth. Little alarm bells started going off but I figured that is easily obtained information, so I said yes. He asked if her maiden name was Brodar. Now I knew this guy was legit. Brodar is an uncommon last name. We talked for about 45 minutes and at the end I knew this was just a guy looking for his family. He currently lives in Orlando, Florida but he kept his old phone number. I told him that if he would send me his information, I would send it to my wife and let her call him if she wanted, but I wouldn't give him her number. Anyway, my wife did call him and talked to him until 1:30 am. I was curious to find out the end result, but I waited until this morning and called. She's very excited about this. He sent her pics of himself and the family resemblance between him and his real Father is undeniable. He also sent a ton of his "homework", including genetics work. So, I guess we have a new Brother who lives in Orlando, Florida. He and his wife are planning to fly up to Missouri to meet us sometime in the next two weeks. Glad this didn't happen in late October or early November.
Just a little update on this story. I can give his name now. It’s Gerry (Gerald) He, one of his daughters and his 8 year old granddaughter flew in from Orlando last night and are at a hotel 15 minutes away in Van Buren, MO. My wife is on her way there now to take them on a sightseeing tour of the area and then they are coming here. I’m sure it’s an exciting time for my wife but not so much for me. He’s only half an in-law, after all. Seriously, though, I guess it’ll be good to meet him. Hey, at least we have family in Orlando now.
Similar story happened to a colleague of mine. She found out her mother had a child at 18 at a convent. Took the secret to her deathbed. Now they have a long list half brother.
That's a great story , I'm not sure I would have answered the second phone call let alone the first. Congrats and they definitely look like each other.
HOOOOOOLY SMOKES! What an amazing story! Thanks for sharing! Hope the visit goes well and good luck this season. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I'm the same way most of the time. I usually just figure that if it's important they'll leave a message. I'm glad I answered this one though.
What a trip. Glad it all went well. I recall being told I had 3 half sisters somewhere in the world when I was a kid. Eventually met all three of them but they dissolved back into the world and I've never heard from them since, even when dad passed away a couple years ago.
