Troy Dunn, Ancestry DNA, Mother's Day, News 6

 Softball games, cheer practices, and all the end of the school year activities have occupied most of my time the last few weeks. During all this I have had a lot of things happen with my search. I apologize for not blogging sooner.

Two weeks ago I saw a post on Troy Dunn's Facebook. He had helped a young man reunite with his family. Troy Dunn said that he received hundreds of emails asking him to help this man. I shared the video on my Facebook page. I also shared my story on Troy's Facebook page. I downloaded his book "Its never too Late: Lessons for life from the Locator" onto my kindle and read the whole thing in less than 24 hours. It was an amazing book for someone searching for a loved one. At the end of the book is a list of resources. I wanted to search all the resources, and that led me to the Locator's Club.
The locators Club  is a website ran by Troy Dunn and his staff.  I set up a profile and watched the getting started video. I was really excited with all the information I was getting. I noticed under the getting started video people left their story in the comments and Troy or a staff member responded. It appears that his staff is helping people in their search through this website. I immediately shared my story. I haven't received any response from them yet. I shared my story on that site and on Troy Dunn's Facebook page.  He gets thousands of requests a day so I know it is a long shot but hopefully he sees my story and wants to help.

I also watched his first quick start video. He gave me things to work on and I am excited to get started. I am hoping these steps get me closer in my search. There seem to be a lot of information on the Locators Club site and  I can't wait to read through it all.
When I first posted that picture on Facebook in March I met some amazing girls. It all started with their cousin who saw my post and thought it was her cousin. She shared the post for her cousins to see and messaged me. The resemblance between these two sisters and  I was remarkable. After chatting with them we thought there may be a chance that we could have the same father. I originally talked to DNA services of Oklahoma about doing a sibling DNA test with one of the sisters. That night was when a woman posing as my mother told me she was my mother. I changed the test from a sibling test to a maternity test and tested with the woman. It was not a match. After I found out she was lying to me the whole time we decided that one of the sisters could go ahead and test through ancestry. The results are longer to get, but the price is more manageable. Unfortunately we are not a match either. I was really disappointed. These are two amazing women with beautiful families. They were so open to welcome me in and I felt like they actually wanted me to be their sister. I called ancestry and told them my situation. I asked if their test would match half siblings and he said yes. One thing I have learned is that just because you have a strong resemblance to someone doesn't mean you are related :(.

 I have contacted my closest matches ( 3rd-4th cousins). Some have messaged back. Everyone is intrigued with my story and willing to help, but nobody knows anything. We don't even know how we are related. I have been considering doing the 23andme.com DNA test to see who I match there.
This past weekend, Mother's Day weekend, was when I was suppose to meet the woman who was posing as my biological mother. We were in the process of planning a trip to Ohio when she dropped the bomb on me that she had been lying. I celebrated my 36th Mother's Day still not knowing who my biological mother is. I believe that you can't understand what that's like unless you experience it. Despite this my children gave me an awesome Mother's Day. My youngest gave me tons of gifts she made for me at school. My middle daughter and her best friend cooked breakfast for me and then brownies. She also gave me a gift card to iTunes. My oldest gave me a gift on Facebook. I was completely shocked.

I love this so much. She is an aspiring singer/songwriter. My kids made my day special. I am so thankful for them. They inspire me everyday. Having three daughters really  increased my desire to find my biological family, but they are also a reminder that if my search never comes to an end I will be ok. 

During this search I met a wonderful search angel who has helped me whenever I needed anything. She is an amazing lady that lives in Tulsa. She contacted Lori Fullbright from News 6 in Tulsa. I have an interview tomorrow with her. I am so excited and nervous. This is another change for me to get my story out there. It will air in Tulsa, the town I was born and abandoned in. I will let everyone know as soon as I know the air date and time. 

Thank you to everyone who continues to share my story, pray for me, and send me words of encouragement. I have wanted to give up plenty of times in the past 6 weeks. Your encouragement inspires me to keep moving forward.