LilMtnCbn
08-31-2004, 07:35 AM
http://www.keloland.com/NewsDetail2817.cfm?Id=22,34353
The Search In Central America
Some people spend their entire lives feeling like a piece of the puzzle is
missing when they've been adopted.
After 50 years, a Rapid City man is now solving that puzzle, thanks to the help
of an Internet pop-up ad.
Ever since he was a child, Edward Bartling has felt a part of him was missing.
Bartling: “There was always that yearning to find my natural birth mother.”
Born in Panama City, Panama he was given up for adoption when he was only eight
days old. He was adopted by Americans who brought him to the US, where he
earned a college degree in business and married his high school sweetheart.
Life was great, yet the 53-year-old Rapid City man longed to know the woman who
gave birth to him.
But it wasn't until nearly a year ago when Bartling started getting some leads.
A friend told him about a tourism website about Panama.
Bartling: ”So I saved it on my website as a favorite and one night I was
looking at it and a pop up window came up as they can and sometimes they're
annoyances, but this time I looked at it and it was in regards to a detective.
For him, it was a sign. He contacted the detective who asked for money up
front. Bartling was suspicious, but his desire to reconnect with his birth
mother was strong.
Bartling: “And then months went by and I was starting to get frustrated and I
contacted him close to Mother's Day, showing him my frustration.”
He thought he was the victim of a scam. But finally this summer, he got news
he'd been waiting to hear all his life.
“I came home and LaDonna, my wife, says have you read your e-mail and I said
no. And she said well read it and I said what's it say and she said you read
it, so I went in and read the e-mail and Brent has found my mother.”
Bartling wasn't the only one surprised by the news.
“My sister had sat my mother down and said ‘mother we need to ask you a
question here’ and that when they sat my mother down and asked her in regards
to my birth and so forth that she fainted and they had to take her to the
hospital.”
Just like Bartling, she had been yearning to reunite with her long lost son.
“My mother, birth mother, being a devote Catholic had been lighting a candle,
going to church devoutly almost everyday and she was praying that before she
died, she would have the opportunity to meet me.”
In September, both of their wishes will come true. Bartling will travel to
Panama to meet his mother and family for the first time.
But he has worries. They speak Spanish; he speaks English. So his co-workers at
Financial Markets incorporated are giving him a crash course.
Neil Sperling says, “We bought him some CD's so he can learn at home some
Spanish. I quiz him every once in a while on some words.”
With packing nearly complete, this adopted son says years of fantasy are
finally being turned into reality.
“She in my mind has always stayed young. That's not necessarily the case of
course. So that's what I'm looking forward to is the realism, the reality of
that is not only my mother, but my family.”
Bartling and his 26-year-old son head to Panama next week. They'll be there in
time to celebrate his birth mother's 79th birthday.
-------------------------
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
The Search In Central America
Some people spend their entire lives feeling like a piece of the puzzle is
missing when they've been adopted.
After 50 years, a Rapid City man is now solving that puzzle, thanks to the help
of an Internet pop-up ad.
Ever since he was a child, Edward Bartling has felt a part of him was missing.
Bartling: “There was always that yearning to find my natural birth mother.”
Born in Panama City, Panama he was given up for adoption when he was only eight
days old. He was adopted by Americans who brought him to the US, where he
earned a college degree in business and married his high school sweetheart.
Life was great, yet the 53-year-old Rapid City man longed to know the woman who
gave birth to him.
But it wasn't until nearly a year ago when Bartling started getting some leads.
A friend told him about a tourism website about Panama.
Bartling: ”So I saved it on my website as a favorite and one night I was
looking at it and a pop up window came up as they can and sometimes they're
annoyances, but this time I looked at it and it was in regards to a detective.
For him, it was a sign. He contacted the detective who asked for money up
front. Bartling was suspicious, but his desire to reconnect with his birth
mother was strong.
Bartling: “And then months went by and I was starting to get frustrated and I
contacted him close to Mother's Day, showing him my frustration.”
He thought he was the victim of a scam. But finally this summer, he got news
he'd been waiting to hear all his life.
“I came home and LaDonna, my wife, says have you read your e-mail and I said
no. And she said well read it and I said what's it say and she said you read
it, so I went in and read the e-mail and Brent has found my mother.”
Bartling wasn't the only one surprised by the news.
“My sister had sat my mother down and said ‘mother we need to ask you a
question here’ and that when they sat my mother down and asked her in regards
to my birth and so forth that she fainted and they had to take her to the
hospital.”
Just like Bartling, she had been yearning to reunite with her long lost son.
“My mother, birth mother, being a devote Catholic had been lighting a candle,
going to church devoutly almost everyday and she was praying that before she
died, she would have the opportunity to meet me.”
In September, both of their wishes will come true. Bartling will travel to
Panama to meet his mother and family for the first time.
But he has worries. They speak Spanish; he speaks English. So his co-workers at
Financial Markets incorporated are giving him a crash course.
Neil Sperling says, “We bought him some CD's so he can learn at home some
Spanish. I quiz him every once in a while on some words.”
With packing nearly complete, this adopted son says years of fantasy are
finally being turned into reality.
“She in my mind has always stayed young. That's not necessarily the case of
course. So that's what I'm looking forward to is the realism, the reality of
that is not only my mother, but my family.”
Bartling and his 26-year-old son head to Panama next week. They'll be there in
time to celebrate his birth mother's 79th birthday.
-------------------------
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
