Open Doors

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/local/abandoned-at-birth-baby-maybelle-looks-for-her-mother/article_f9213d25-9498-57ee-93d9-0e6e436f6a48.html#user-comment-area



Joyce Meyers said "Having patience is not just the act of waiting, but waiting with a good attitude." When you have been searching and waiting for the same thing for 18 years sometimes it's hard to have a good attitude about it. I can honestly say the past month I have had the best attitude in my search to date. The amazing support that I am getting is such a blessing.

First KFOR ran my story online. I still don't know who ran it or how they even heard about my story, but I am extremely grateful to whomever it was.  After KFOR shared my story activity on my blog and Facebook page picked up. I was contacted by the Tulsa World. I went to Tulsa for an interview, and it was the best part of my search so far.

If you didn't get to see the story I attached the link at the top of the blog. Please take time to read and share the story that Michael Overall wrote. There is also a video that John Clanton put together. I love how they shared my story. On the website is a baby picture of me. I was so shocked when I saw it. The only baby pictures that I have seen of myself before 6 months old was printed out from microfiche. I believe this may be the same picture, but only zoomed out and clear. I am so thankful to the Tulsa World for sharing that picture.

This is my newborn baby picture. I am guessing this picture was taken by a photographer at the Tulsa World when they ran my original story in 1978. After 36 years I am beyond excited to finally have this picture! It's funny how the little things mean so much. I finally have a baby picture to compare to my girls.

I read the article and saw this amazing picture online before the story ran in print. There is a video with the article. I love this video. I love the footage from the fairgrounds. This is the video that I would love for my biological mother to see.

I was even more surprised when I got the paper on Tuesday.

I wasn't expecting front page!! I can not thank the Tulsa World enough!!

The only way I know to find my family is for them to find me. I am putting myself out there to be found. I don't know who they are, but I am making sure they know who I am. The Tulsa World has helped me with that. I am believing that this piece the Tulsa World did is going to get me closer than I have ever been before.

Lindsey Bauer, morning show host at Mix 96 in Tulsa has invited me to be on her show tomorrow morning.  I am excited. I have never done radio, so I am nervous, but I am so thankful for this opportunity. Any chance to share my story is a chance my biological family will see it. If you can listen to Mix 96.5 tomorrow morning.

Thank you for all the encouragement! I could not have made it this far without you!! Your words of encouragement and prayers really do keep me going. Thank you for all your suggestions and ideas to help me in my search! I am so thankful to everyone who shares my story!! God is opening doors for me that I never thought possible. I will continue patiently (with a good attitude) moving forward to where ever God leads.

Since I first started Maybelle page on Facebook in March it has been a wild ride. Sometimes I want to give up and sometimes I want to press forward. I always come to the same conclusion. It is all in God's hands. The desire of my heart is to meet my biological mom, in God's timing. So I will continue step through each door that God open's for me.

36 Years Later I Return to Where It All Began

When I think back on my story and this journey it feels like I started it a million years ago. When in reality it was only 18 years ago that I found out I was abandoned. I was told that there were newspaper articles about it. My search literally began at the Tulsa Library looking on micro fish in 1996. It was so hard and frustrating looking through the micro fish film and not really knowing what you were looking for. My husband and I spent hours looking.

       

I found this picture, and my heart sank. The Tulsa World, Tulsa Tribune and Daily Oklahoman have played a vital role in my search. All the information I have came from the newspaper articles. I am forever indebted to them. If they had not covered my story in 1978 I would literally know nothing. 36 years and 2 months after the above article ran I was honored to be contacted by the Tulsa World to do an interview.
I was beyond excited when I arrived at the Tulsa World. This is were my story was first told. Now I had the opportunity for the Tulsa World to let their readers know about my search. 

Last time my story ran in the paper I didn't have a voice. I was dependent upon the investigators to speak for me. This time I wore the mic.
 I was so excited for this interview. Of course,  I was nervous. I never know what they are going to ask and I always try not to cry. I am much better at writing about my story that I am talking about it. lol
 I met with Micheal Overall at the Tulsa World on Tuesday. He took me to the photo shooting room for the interview. There I met John Clanton, the multimedia producer at the Tulsa World. I wasn't expecting the cameras, but it was fun. Once Michael started asking me questions I forgot the camera's were even there.
After the interview, my husband and I met them at the Fairgrounds. I can honestly say this was the most peaceful moment of my entire search. 36 years and 2 months ago I was left in a phone booth by the Sky ride at the Tulsa Fairgrounds. 

We looked at old footage from 1978 and tried to figure out exactly where the telephone booth was located. We think we have a real good idea. We even found an old phone line mounted to the Skyride. It is amazing how much the fairgrounds has changed in 36 years. I was so surprised to find out how close Bell's Amusement park was to the Sky ride. Michael and John knew a lot about Tulsa and it's history. They definitely know a lot more about Tulsa in 1978 than I do. I was so thankful for what I learned when I was there. John took some pictures of me there. As I stood there I felt so much peace. Being there and trying to picture what it was like in 1978 is defiantly the coolest thing I have done in this search!!

I am so excited to see the piece that Micheal and John put together. I am so thankful that they chose to run my story. My story will be in the Tuesday edition of the Tulsa World, and online at Tulsaworld.com
I will also share the link on my Facebook and blog. I pray that someone in my biological family sees the article. How cool would it be if the first place to share my story is the one that leads me to my biological family?

I also wanted to share that Kfor.com ran my story. I didn't even know. I was following a lead I got and I googling it and my story came up. I was so shocked and excited. I don't know who at kfor saw my story and decided to run it, but whoever it was THANK YOU!!  If you haven seen it, I shared it on my Facebook. That story that kfor ran totally explains the increased activity my Facebook page has received in the past couple weeks.

I have received a lot of messages from people with information they may think is helpful.  I have followed all leads. I also consider all suggestions. A man shared a story about how he used DNA to help him find his biological family. I am going to try it. I already have my DNA test from Ancestry. I am going to do the 23andme and familytreeDNA test. Once I have all the results I am going to take them to a genetic genealogist. If it doesn't help me find my family I will least learn a lot of stuff about myself.

Thank you for all the messages the past couple of weeks. I love when people share their stories good and bad. They give me hope, but also warn me to proceed with caution. Your prayers are defiantly felt. The Bible says in Matthew 18:19 "Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven." Thank you for agreeing with me. God's timing is never to late, its always right on time!!

Because of YOU the search keeps going

I am beyond blessed to have such special people whom I don't even know helping me in my search. Let me explain what I mean-
After my story aired on Channel 6 in Tulsa nothing happened. My blog got fewer and fewer hits. My story wasn't being shared on Facebook anymore. I wasn't getting any new friend requests. I never heard from Troy Dunn. No new matches on Ancestry.  Just like every other time I have searched, all leads just stopped.
I had two choices. I could keep going. I could keep asking people to share my story. Honestly, I didn't want to ask again. I didn't want to impose on people. Most of my friends had shared my story and some multiple times. My other choice was to stop. Not give up, please understand I will never give up. Just stop and trust in God. I always say that this will happen in God's timing. In Psalms it says" God wrote the story of our lives before we ever came to be." So I made the choice to stop and trust that God is in control.
This was easier than I thought. It was summer and my girls were home. We had an amazing summer. We traveled and spent a lot of time together this summer. I even got a huge unexpected opportunity that could turn into a major blessing for me and my family. (that is a whole other story) I stayed blessed and busy, so it was easy to keep my mind off my search.
I didn't  check Maybelle's Facebook very much through the summer. A couple of weeks ago I started getting emails that I had friend request. So I accepted them through the email. This past week I noticed that my story was being shared. I had 70 friend request this week. I am not sure how many times my story has been shared since I still haven't actually logged into Facebook.
Then yesterday something amazing happened. I got an email that was a message someone sent me on Facebook. I started to read it and I was in complete shock. The message was from a reporter from the Tulsa World. He said he and his editor were intrigued with my Facebook and blog. He asked if I would  do an interview. My excitement shocked me. I was more excited about this than I remember being excited any other time someone wanted to do my story. I called him immediately.
After I talked with him I realized how awesome this is. Other times people wanted to do my story it was because someone I knew had contacted the reporter. This time I have no idea how this reporter heard about me. Did he see my story on TV? Did he stumble upon my blog or did someone I don't even know share my story and he saw it? I am going to ask him, but I am guessing God lead someone to share my story and this reporter saw it.
I have defiantly had my griefs with social media. Often times I have just wanted to delete it all and throw away my smart phone. Sharing my story on Facebook has had its ups and downs. I have learned that there are mean crazy people in this world. But I have also learned that there are caring and loving people in this world too. These extraordinary people have blessed me so much.
 For most of my life I have felt so alone in this search. I knew I had the amazing support of my husband and children. They understand how I feel better than anyone else can. My husband lifts me up when I feel like I can't go on. Having their support has been amazing. But I always knew that we couldn't do it alone.
Everyone who has shared my story on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Youtube have blessed me more than you can ever know. I don't feel so alone in this search anymore. Some people classify themselves as search angels, but to me every single person who has shared my story, read my blog, and messaged me your support and encouragement,  are all my search angels. When I had stopped you kept going. When my thoughts and emotions had to rest, you didn't stop. And now because of you I am getting my story shared in the Tulsa World! I am so thankful to all of you!!
I want to share one more thing with you. I think I have blogged before about a book I remember my brother reading me when I was little. It was called "Why was I adopted?" I loved that book and the time that was shared reading it to me. I never knew what happened to that book after I got married. I looked it up on amazon this summer.

                                                 

I bought it! I was like a little kid again when  I received it! I sat down and read it to my husband. lol 

Sometimes it is the little things you do in life like reading a book from your childhood that can bring the most joy. My search angels have brought me so much joy by doing a little thing like sharing my story!

Now I am going to log onto Facebook and share this blog with my amazing friends and see what God has in store. Thank you in advance to everyone who shares this. I notice every share and I read every comment and message you send me. Your words of encouragement mean so much. I know someday someone is going to share my story and my biological family will see it!! It's all in God's timing!

Happy Birth/Abandonment Day

 Have you ever lost something? My youngest daughter loses her phone all the time. Its never really "lost", just misplaced. I notice that how quickly she finds her phone depends on the urgency of her need with her phone. Sometimes it will go missing for days and when she decides she wants to text a friend or something she starts to look for it and its usually in plain site. My oldest daughter on the other hand reacts quite differently when she notices her cell phone out of her sight. It usually starts with a look of pure panic on her face as she feels her pockets and looks around her. Once she has established the phone is "lost" the whole world freezes until the phone is found, which is usually a few seconds since her phone is always by her side. lol
There is a difference between misplacing your cell phone and actually losing something. I remember a few years back I lost my dog. When I was about 11 years old I got a little winnie dog and I named him Yoshi. He was MY dog. When I got married and moved out I took him with me. I still had him through the birth of two of my children. He was our beloved family dog. I knew he was getting old and worried that he would pass soon. On halloween of 2005 Yoshi disappeared. We were heart broken. We looked everywhere for him. We printed out flyers and handed them out while we were trick or treating. I called the local shelter. I did everything I knew to do to find him. We looked for days. Days turned into weeks and we were still looking. Weeks turned into months and we came to terms that we probably weren't going to find Yoshi. How long can you really look for something you lost?
Maybe the answer to that question can be seen in my daughters and their "lost" cell phones. To Haley her phone is important to her. Its her form of communication and as an active teenage girl she needs to communicate with friends, teacher,coaches and her parents. When I asked her why her phone is important to her she said "it's my communication to the world and without it I feel like a piece of me is missing!"She is extreme, I know, lol. Emily on the other hand usually just plays games on her phone. She has filled the memory with pics so she can't use the camera unless she deletes the pics. She only texts a few friends and that is rarely. Her phone is of little importance to her. She is much more concerned about her stuffed unicorn, Fluffy. Maybe the length of how long you look for what you have lost depends on the importance of the missing object to the person who is trying to locate it.

36 years ago today I lost something and I am still looking for it. On June 12, 1978  I was born in an unknown location that was approximately somewhere within 3 hours of the Tulsa County Fairgrounds. I don't know who gave birth to me, who delivered, or the time of my birth. I know that my umbilical cord was tied with a twisty tie from a bread sack. I also know that there must have been complications at birth because I have been diagnosed with cerebral palsy, which is caused by lack of oxygen at birth. I was left in a phone booth at the Tulsa State Fairgrounds within a few hours after my birth. I got the privilege of chatting with one of the officers who found me. He told me that he was working a stake out that day close to the fairgrounds when he got the call that there was a baby at the fairgrounds. He said  they turned on the sirens and got to me in less than 5 minutes. From there I was taken to the hospital. The doctors said I appeared to be 4 hours old and in good health.

I don't know how long I was in the hospital or what happened when  I was there. I do know that the Tulsa County Sheriff's department was investigating. The PD named me Maybelle. They said it was fitting since I was found in a Ma Belle telephone booth.  An anonymous source called the PD and told them that I was stolen from my ailing mother.

. The newspapers also said that a woman called the PD and the hospital numerous times asking about my condition and said "take care of my baby, take care of my baby.

After the anonymous caller told the police  I was taken from my mother the PD released that they would not press chargers against her if she came forward. An investigator told the Tulsa World that he felt confident the mother would come forward. But she never did. 

I don't know how long I was in the hospital or where I went after I was released. I have been told that I was in foster care for 6 months. I don't know who I lived with or how many families had me before I was adopted at 6 months. 

These newspaper articles are the only pictures that I have of myself before 6 months of age. These newspaper articles are also the only thing that I have to put the pieces of the puzzle together. I would love to be able to get the reports of the investigation from the Tulsa County Sheriff's office, but it's not that easy. 

There are so many things that I don't know about that day 36 years ago. I am praying that someday I find the answers that I seek. Over the past few months I thought  I was getting close and for a short time I thought I had finally found what I was looking for. All roads have led to dead ends and I am not sure if  I will ever find my biological family. 

I know that someone knows what happened that day. A young man called the Tulsa County Sheriff's department as an anonymous source and gave them information about me. I really thought that if my story was shared enough someone with information that could help me would come forward. That has not happened yet. 

I sit here 36 years later in the same town  I was abandoned in. I think this is my first birthday I have spent in this town. I am going to ask everyone who reads this to please share it. Share it everywhere you can. Everytime its shared there is a chance my biological mother/family member will see it. What a wonderful birthday present it would be if my biological mother would see this today of all days. 

Thank you so much to everyone for your support over the past few months. You all have helped me so much! I have no new news to report. I haven't heard anything from Troy Dunn and no new leads came from the news report.  I still remain hopeful. I know it is all in God's timing.  How long do I keep looking?  I will keep looking for as long as it takes. Like my oldest daughter Haley said about her cell phone, " I feel like there is a piece of me missing." No time can be put on this for me. I will keep looking.  Can you imagine still looking for the same thing for 36 years? 

Psalms 139:13-16 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when  Iwas made in that secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your boo before one came to be.

God wrote the story of my life before any of it came to be. I am praying chapter 36 answers a lot of questions from the past chapters. 

A Night at the Softball Field

I have been extremely busy since Spring Break. I have spent most of my nights, usually at least 4 nights a week at the softball fields. I have been blessed that most nights Emily and Katey play at the same place back to back. Its the little things like that I am so thankful for. Emily decided she wanted to play softball this year. She is 9 years old and never played ball, but this year she wanted to. So she started with coach pitch softball. She has a really good coach and they have won most their games. The coaches wife keeps the score book for the team and almost every game I sit a few people down from her if not next to her.
Tonight we started talking about our mutual love of Florida. We talked for quite a while about it. She made a comment about her sister and brother in law living in Florida. She said her brother in law has his own reality show and helps people find missing people!! My heart sunk when I heard this. I honestly thought I was hearing wrong. My husband asked her who her brother in law was and she answered "Troy Dunn."  I could not even believe it. I sat their in shock and laughing to myself. I sat here for weeks trying to get my story to Troy Dunn and his sister in law was sitting next to me  4 nights a week. I told her how I sat right here next to her and read Troy's book on my kindle. I told her my story. She gave me her email and I emailed her the link to this blog. We visited about it a little more and then she text her sister and told her she had an interesting story for her.
I have been told for months that I needed to get my story to Troy Dunn and now my story will get to him. It is no secret that I am not a big fan of living in this tiny little country town I live in. No offense to it, but I grew up in a small town and really loved it when I moved to a bigger city. I am tired of small town. I often wonder why we are here. It is not more convenient to work or really have any thing to offer us that we didn't already have before we moved here. I often wonder what God's plan is for us here.
As I sat at the softball game tonight I realized that I am in this town  for a reason. I don't know very many people in this town, but of the very few I know one is Troy Dunn's sister in law. I don't know what he will think of my story or if he will even think he will be able to help me. I know he gets thousands of requests a day and I really doubted if he would ever hear mine. I am so thankful for this connection that I made from my baby girl wanting to play softball. It reminded me that God is working in our favor when we don't even see  the result of it yet. All this time I have been so negative about living here and God was just paving the way for me to this divine connection. I am so thankful. Even if nothing comes of it, at least I know he heard my story.

I want to thank everyone who viewed and shared the story that Lori Fullbright did Friday night on News 6. If you missed it you can see it at www.newson6.com  I will upload the video to my blog once I get a copy.
I showed up at the park on Friday morning and I was nervous. I tried to hide it. I struggle with not knowing what she is going to ask and also talking about something so personal for everyone to see. I tell myself to stick to the facts and not so much emotion. Once Lori showed up I forgot everything I was nervous about. She is such an awesome lady. I really felt like I was just visiting with a friend.
 I wasn't nervous and forgot about the camera. I am very pleased with the story Lori Fullbright did. I am thankful for another divine connection. An amazing lady that has helped me with a few things on this journey is a friend of Lori's and she shared my story with Lori. I have been so blessed to meet so many nice people along this journey.

Thank you to everyone that has shared my story in any way. I believe it is from these shares that I am getting connections that could possibly lead me closer in my search. Please keep sharing. I believe that with every share I am a step closer to the end of my journey. I am going to sleep smiling tonight knowing that even when I don't see it God is in control and working in my favor.

Tulsa News 6 at 6pm tonight

My interview with Lori Fullbright today went great. She is such an awesome person. I'm so honored that she took time out of her day to talk with me about my story. I'll post the story here after it airs. If you can tune in tonight at 6pm to Tulsa channel 6. I'm excited to see what she puts together.  You can watch at newson6.com
 http://www.newson6.com/story/25540947/green-country-abandoned-in-phone-booth-at-birth-looking-for-parents

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.