LilMtnCbn
05-17-2004, 06:15 AM
http://www.news-press.com/news/local_state/040516reunion.html
Together again after 40 years
North Fort Myers woman reunited with daughter given up for adoption
By ANGELA HILL, ahill@news-press.com
Published by news-press.com on May 16, 2004
The North Fort Myers woman was expecting to meet Valerie Montgomery, the
daughter she gave up for adoption 40 years ago. What she wasn’t expecting was
to meet three grandchildren — 22-year-old Amber, 11-year-old Chuckie and
9-year-old Mikayla.
“I didn’t think I would be seeing my grandchildren until a year from now
when I planned on traveling to Michigan,” said Lambert, 63.
“I wasn’t nervous until I saw the car pull up,” Lambert said. “I was
calm on the outside, but I was racing on the inside.”
The feelings were no different for Montgomery, who couldn’t eat breakfast or
sit still Saturday morning. Montgomery, and her three kids had arrived for the
reunion in North Fort Myers on Friday night after a two-day drive.
“I kept telling the kids to be quiet, leave me alone and go in the other
hotel room because the nervousness was driving me crazy and they weren’t
helping the situation,” she said.
As the white Escalade carrying Montgomery’s family pulled up to the yellow
ribbon-adorned driveway in the Sunburst community, Valerie saw Sharina’s
husband Brian Lambert coming out of the front door. All she could say was,
“Oh my God, somebody’s coming out of the house. Where is she?”
“Finally, huh,” said Lambert as she hugged the youngest of two daughters
for the first time. Tears streamed down the women’s cheeks.
Forty years ago, Lambert, who already had a 1-year-old, Ellen, gave up her
youngest because she had just left her husband and didn’t think she could
care for another child. The child was adopted by a family in a nearby Michigan
community and named Valerie.
But both women longed to know each other. Montgomery began looking for Lambert
eight years ago, registering as an adopted child wanting contact. Lambert
already had registered her name in case her daughter ever wanted to find her.
The two have talked on the phone often since November, when they finally
connected, but it was Saturday’s face-to-face interaction the two desired
most.
“I looked at the colors of the rainbow and yellow represented joy, so I
thought it would be perfect to have yellow everywhere because it is the
happiest moment of my life,” said Lambert, explaining how she chose the
yellow ribbon decorations she put up Friday.
Inside Lambert’s home, Montgomery’s kids sat quietly listening to the two
women chat. Their eyes wandered around the room, taking it all in. They knew it
was their mother’s moment, but they wanted to be a part of the life-changing
experience.
“I wasn’t expecting to come, but when my mom asked I knew I wanted to be
here because it meant a lot to her,” said Amber Dice, 22, who is eight
months’ pregnant with Lambert’s second great-grandchild.
Lambert said she and Montgomery may not have seen each other before, but the
moment she laid eyes on her it felt like they were never apart.
“I can take a deep breath now,” Lambert said. “You may notice we don’t
look a lot alike, but you will notice that we are very similar in different
ways,” she told Montgomery.
The phone rang during a break in conversation. It was Ellen, Lambert’s
41-year-old daughter. She was just calling to check in on her mom and
stepfather and didn’t know that Montgomery or her kids were there.
Lambert said Ellen had better get used to having Valerie being called the baby.
“She was called the baby for many years and now it is Valerie’s turn to be
the baby,” she said. “Even when you are 80,” she told Montgomery, “you
will still be my baby.”
Lambert now has her youngest baby back and then some, giving her a whole new
family and life to learn about and enjoy.
“It is amazing that you can be sitting watching television, then get ready
for bed and your entire life can change in a moment with a phone call,”
Lambert said.
-------------------------
A good friend will come and bail you out of jail . . . but, a true friend will
be sitting next to you saying, "Damn . . . that was fun!"
-----Unknown
Together again after 40 years
North Fort Myers woman reunited with daughter given up for adoption
By ANGELA HILL, ahill@news-press.com
Published by news-press.com on May 16, 2004
The North Fort Myers woman was expecting to meet Valerie Montgomery, the
daughter she gave up for adoption 40 years ago. What she wasn’t expecting was
to meet three grandchildren — 22-year-old Amber, 11-year-old Chuckie and
9-year-old Mikayla.
“I didn’t think I would be seeing my grandchildren until a year from now
when I planned on traveling to Michigan,” said Lambert, 63.
“I wasn’t nervous until I saw the car pull up,” Lambert said. “I was
calm on the outside, but I was racing on the inside.”
The feelings were no different for Montgomery, who couldn’t eat breakfast or
sit still Saturday morning. Montgomery, and her three kids had arrived for the
reunion in North Fort Myers on Friday night after a two-day drive.
“I kept telling the kids to be quiet, leave me alone and go in the other
hotel room because the nervousness was driving me crazy and they weren’t
helping the situation,” she said.
As the white Escalade carrying Montgomery’s family pulled up to the yellow
ribbon-adorned driveway in the Sunburst community, Valerie saw Sharina’s
husband Brian Lambert coming out of the front door. All she could say was,
“Oh my God, somebody’s coming out of the house. Where is she?”
“Finally, huh,” said Lambert as she hugged the youngest of two daughters
for the first time. Tears streamed down the women’s cheeks.
Forty years ago, Lambert, who already had a 1-year-old, Ellen, gave up her
youngest because she had just left her husband and didn’t think she could
care for another child. The child was adopted by a family in a nearby Michigan
community and named Valerie.
But both women longed to know each other. Montgomery began looking for Lambert
eight years ago, registering as an adopted child wanting contact. Lambert
already had registered her name in case her daughter ever wanted to find her.
The two have talked on the phone often since November, when they finally
connected, but it was Saturday’s face-to-face interaction the two desired
most.
“I looked at the colors of the rainbow and yellow represented joy, so I
thought it would be perfect to have yellow everywhere because it is the
happiest moment of my life,” said Lambert, explaining how she chose the
yellow ribbon decorations she put up Friday.
Inside Lambert’s home, Montgomery’s kids sat quietly listening to the two
women chat. Their eyes wandered around the room, taking it all in. They knew it
was their mother’s moment, but they wanted to be a part of the life-changing
experience.
“I wasn’t expecting to come, but when my mom asked I knew I wanted to be
here because it meant a lot to her,” said Amber Dice, 22, who is eight
months’ pregnant with Lambert’s second great-grandchild.
Lambert said she and Montgomery may not have seen each other before, but the
moment she laid eyes on her it felt like they were never apart.
“I can take a deep breath now,” Lambert said. “You may notice we don’t
look a lot alike, but you will notice that we are very similar in different
ways,” she told Montgomery.
The phone rang during a break in conversation. It was Ellen, Lambert’s
41-year-old daughter. She was just calling to check in on her mom and
stepfather and didn’t know that Montgomery or her kids were there.
Lambert said Ellen had better get used to having Valerie being called the baby.
“She was called the baby for many years and now it is Valerie’s turn to be
the baby,” she said. “Even when you are 80,” she told Montgomery, “you
will still be my baby.”
Lambert now has her youngest baby back and then some, giving her a whole new
family and life to learn about and enjoy.
“It is amazing that you can be sitting watching television, then get ready
for bed and your entire life can change in a moment with a phone call,”
Lambert said.
-------------------------
A good friend will come and bail you out of jail . . . but, a true friend will
be sitting next to you saying, "Damn . . . that was fun!"
-----Unknown
