Who Says You Can't Go Home?

Here is what I learned about my sister Abby: 


She spent most of her life dreaming about her mother. She dreamed of lying in her lap, while her mother stroked her hair. She dreamed of what her family would be like. If she had sisters that she could share things with...maybe a brother to look up to. 


She wanted her family. She wanted to be home with them where she belonged. 


Abby traveled so many places in her life. She'd been to Venezuela and Hawaii and nearly all of the states in the USA. She moved around quite a lot. 


One thing she held on to was her dream of one day meeting her mother. She'd moved so much already in her past, that it seemed to Abby that she'd never settle down, she'd never have a home.


She had her heart broken many times, but with each knock that the world gave her, she didn't fall down, she only got stronger. 


She met her first husband and had two handsome sons. While her marriage may have broken apart, her spirit did not. She kept dreaming of one day going home to see her mom. 


She laughed, she cried, she dreamed... 

Abby finally met her prince charming and fell happily in love and married him. They moved to the Northwest and thought that they would finally settle down. Yet, that yearning in Abby's soul did not. 


She still felt pulled to find her mother. 


For many years, an invisible force had been trying to connect Abby with her birth family. For example: 


 -a few times, they lived in the same town as each other 
-she worked at the same restaurant as her sister (a few years apart) 
-she lived in the same town in Texas that her sister traveled through just months before they connected
-she lives in the same town that her mother lived in in Washington. (As a matter of fact, she sees the same mountain every day that her mother had looked at over sixty years before her.)


Then one day, Abby got a message from out of the blue. Someone was calling her 'sister'. Could it be?


__________________________________________


On May 5, 2012, Abby will meet her birth family for the first time. She is travelling to Georgia to meet the Mom she's always wanted to know. She will finally meet:


 -Mom 
-brother Terry 
-sisters, Cathy, Connie, and Evelyn (if God allows it also Lori and Kelly)
 -Aunts and Uncles 
-Cousins 
-Nieces and Nephews 


 Yes, Abby is finally coming home to us!!


What started as a small reunion has become quite large. My sister Connie posted a facebook yard sale ad asking if anyone had tables and chairs that they could loan her. She told the story of what had transpired and strangers were touched. They began offering donations of food, money, and party equipment. Someone even called the local newspaper. 


 A small community has come together to help welcome Abby home. 


 All I have to say is, "Abby Lynn: Who Says You Can't Go Home?"
 

“God did not give me my life to throw it away.” ― Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre

I admire people who are resilient. One of my favorite people in the whole world is actually a character from a book. Her name is Jane Eyre. She is an orphan with massive amounts of courage and resilience. Jane was just a young girl when she had to overcome overwhelming odds just to survive. 

People like that amaze me. That is why I am amazed by my sister Abby. Abby and I haven't talked a whole lot about her life growing up without us. What I do know is that she could have given up on her fight for survival long before we knew her.

However, instead of giving up, Abby decided to fight. She fought the odds and not only did she survive, but she came out stronger and more beautiful than ever. But like everyone else, Abby feels fear. I wish that I could know her fears and I wish that I could bottle them up and bury them in a hole that no one could ever find.

The following is a quote from Jane Eyre:

“But I tell you--and mark my words--you will come some day to a craggy pass in the channel, where the whole of life's stream will be broken up into whirl and tumult, foam and noise: either you will be dashed to atoms on crag points, or lifted up and borne on by some master-wave into a calmer current..." Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre

 The following is a video that I'd like to dedicate to Abby: