I wish my parents, those people who raised me, were here to tell me how much they approve of my finding new family. It would have been easier had they still been alive.

Yesterday I spoke to half-bio-bro for the first time. I’m a professional questioner yet I found myself almost speechless.

His grandfather (my bio one) was born on a ship to the US! He and his brothers became farmers. Their father, my bio-dad was also a farmer.

I have four half bio siblings–three younger than I am. They don’t know about me as I was born after my oldest half-bio-bro. Oldest half-bio-bro remembers my bio-mom. He believed my story to be true. I lost any doubt when I saw a picture of his son in his 20′s. He looked just like me. It was amazing!

I don’t really feel comfortable saying more than that right now. It’s a lot to take in.

What a year this has been! On New Years Eve when I ate every lucky food I could find mentioned on the Internet–salmon’s one, kale’s another, collard greens and spinach still more foods–so this wasn’t an unknown me–I had no idea that the next Friday I would randomly be looking at a picture of my bio-mom when an editor from Psychology Today called.

And in early summer I would hear from my birth cousins on bio-mom’s side. I know I will look back and think 2011 the most amazing of years even if most of the time it felt as if the US was drowning in its fluids.

First I have to catch my breath!