A Chance of a Lifetime

Gladys lay in her bed covered with crocheted blankets she had made over the years. The freezing air in her room made her feel as though she lived in the Arctic.

The days had grown dull, and Gladys only longed for the days when her grown son, Chris, would come visit with his son and two daughters. She was grateful to still have family around to visit her since it had been three years since her husband passed.

There was a part of her that still felt empty. She couldn't place it. Gladys hugged her little crochet cat with a soft tummy that she liked to rub against her face, a small comfort while here.

One day, when Gladys was passing her time staring out the window, a woman about twenty years younger than her walked up to her door and knocked.

"Knock knock!" the woman smiled at Gladys, holding a bag in her hand, "Hi, I'm Samantha, it's nice to meet you!"

Gladys looked up in curiosity, and smiled back, "Oh hullo there, what brings you to my corner?"

Samantha sat down on a couch across from Gladys's bed. "I’ll be volunteering here; just getting to know everyone."

"Ohhh, that's mighty nice of you."

Samantha nodded, "So tell me about yourself! I see you like to do crafts - is that crochet?"

"Yes, yes, I like to dabble with crochet; I’m no expert though."

"That's really nice work you did," Samantha admired the handiwork of Gladys.

Gladys got quiet, rubbing her blanket with her thumbs.

"Well, I don't want to disturb you at all, so would you like for me to come back later?"

"Sure, that would be fine. But don't come around seven o'clock because I listen to a radio program at that time."

"No problem, Gladys. It was nice to meet you," Samantha reached out with her hand to shake Gladys's hand, and when their hands touched, Gladys felt a rush of something as though there was a connection with her. She thought that she might have known Samantha, perhaps in another life.

Days and weeks passed, and with each visit from Samantha, Gladys felt like she had a new friend. It was like they were kindred spirits.

One day, their conversation somehow went somewhere unexpected.

“Did you say Big Bear, like in Southern California?” Gladys’s voice cracked.

“Yes, that’s where I grew up.”

“Really? That’s a far way from here,” Gladys wanted to know more, her mind racing with wonder.

“Yes that is a very long way from here, isn’t it?” Samantha laughed softly, “I went to college and met a man and we got married,” she paused for a moment as she seemed to be taken back to the days of her youth, “One thing led to another, and here I am!”

Gladys looked down at her crochet she was working on. “So, do you miss California? Do you have family out there still?”

Samantha smiled, “Oh I miss certain things about Cali. I suppose you could say I was just always wild at heart and love being in rural places. I didn’t care for the big cities much.”

“Me neither! I lived in Southern California long ago. I have met numerous other folks who have moved away from that wretched place over the years too.”

“Really? You never told me that you lived there. Well what part did you live in?”

“You know where Idyllwild is?” Gladys peered at Samantha through her thick glasses.

“Yes, I loved going there as a kid - I used to go with my family,” Samantha suddenly hesitated, then finished her sentence, “to all the festivals they would have. We lived not far from Idyllwild, in Moreno Valley.”

Gladys stared at her in bewilderment. “So do you still have family out there?”

“Oh! Well… yes, I have an older brother who lives out there. We aren’t blood relatives though. My parents, well they are gone now - they adopted me when they were old already, weird as that is.”

“Really, now? That’s very interesting.”

Gladys began to feel goosebumps all over her skin. A part of her, from long ago, had been waiting to find a piece of her that had been missing. Gladys was almost certain that this woman held the missing piece.

"Do you have family in California?" Samantha’s question jolted Gladys back into reality.

"Oh, I don't think so," she trailed off for a moment, then added softly, "except for one, maybe." Her eyebrows furrowed in deep thought.

"Just one living relative?" Samantha thought it strange. 

"Yes," Gladys wondered if she should say more. She had buried this deep in the past, thinking it would never have to be faced again.

"Well, the thing is, when I was much younger, I had a baby." Gladys stopped, swallowed what felt like a lump in her throat, and shed a tear.

Samantha was holding her breath, anxious to hear more, "Go on - you had a baby - then what?"

Gladys shook her head in dismay, her hands now trembling, clutching her blanket. "Well, I was young and I wasn't ready for a baby," Gladys felt as though she had rehearsed this story thousands of times previously, "I met a couple who were old enough to be my parents, and they agreed to take the baby. They adopted her." Gladys sobbed, tears streaming down her face, then wiped it with the corner of her bedsheet. 

Samantha handed Gladys some tissues, then sat down at a chair next to Gladys’s bed. Samantha was stunned. She thought that perhaps this wasn't a coincidence - her meeting Gladys - and began to wonder if she should ask more questions.

"Do you remember the day you had your baby?" Samantha pressed.

Gladys stared at her. She tried for years to forget the baby's birthday - it was impossible - every single time her baby's birthday rolled around, Gladys was imprisoned by regret for giving up the baby.

"Do you remember, Gladys?" Samantha tried again.

"She was born on August thirteenth, two-thousand five," Gladys finally managed to say, “At the Moreno Valley Hospital.”

Samantha gasped, "That's my birthday and where I was born!”

Gladys was numb with astonishment.

"Do you know who you gave your baby to?" Samantha was nearly in tears, wanting desperately for an answer that meant she would finally have closure. Her heart raced as she strained her ears to hear the next words, leaning closer from her seat.

Gladys, with a cracking voice, uttered faintly, "The Porters. Rachel and Joe Porter, of Indio." 

In a surge of astonishment, Samantha burst off the chair to Gladys's side, holding her hand and crying, "You're my birth mom! I can't believe this is happening," she and Gladys both sobbed together as they held onto each other’s hands. "I wanted to find you; I asked about you when I was younger, but my mom," Samantha sniffed, "She didn't think I should try, because she was afraid I would be disappointed."

"Oh my dear, I am so sorry that I ever left you," Gladys tried to comfort Samantha amidst the emotional tornado, "I always thought of you - every year your birthday came - I wondered how you were doing."

"You know...mom," when Samantha said the word, it felt unbelievably relieving, "Mom, it's so good to finally know you - not the picture my adoptive family painted of you, but the real you!"

Gladys sighed in relief, "I keep pinching myself, wondering if this is just a dream.”

"I know, Mom." Samantha was smiling at Gladys, overjoyed.

"You need to meet someone," Gladys said, "Your half-brother was born almost ten years after you.”

"Aww, Mom that is so amazing - when can I meet him? This calls for a family reunion doesn't it?" Samantha laughed. "I can't wait to meet him! You have to keep this a secret until - until I figure out something - okay?"

"You're right. Maybe the people working here would help out with a party?" Gladys thought out loud.

"I will go talk to the people up front. Does your son normally come here a certain day or time?"

"Every Sunday at three o'clock Chris comes to visit with his wife and children.”

In only a few minutes, Samantha had gone up to the front desk and spoke with the ladies who organized and scheduled things. 

"Excuse me, ladies, I'm wondering if you could help me out."

"Whatcha need, ma'am?" the woman asked.

"I just discovered that Gladys in room 503 is my birth mother; I was adopted when I was a baby. We want to find out if someone here could arrange for us to have a reunion surprise party for when her son Chris comes to visit Sunday. Would that be possible?"

"Ohhh Lordy, that is so precious! Congratulations to both of you," the woman was beaming with joy.

"Yes, that's exactly right! It was almost like God sent me here on purpose and I never knew what the reason was, but yes - it was so crazy how one thing led to another!"

The woman behind the desk shook her head, "Bless yer heart, that is truly a miracle - and God surely must've sent you - He knew all along what you been needin' and He orchestrated the entire thing!"

This moment, this realization, changed everything. Samantha wasn't the same person anymore. She walked out of room 503 a different woman, and with a completely new outlook on life and its meaning. What happened, exactly, in there?

"Listen, ma'am, we gonna take care of this party for you and Ms. Gladys, don't ya fret. What time you want us to throw this shindig on Sunday?"

"Gladys's son and his family usually visits at three o'clock; how about three thirty just to give them some time to settle in?"

"Sounds good to me, honey. You let your mama know that we got this handled." 

"Thank you so much, we truly appreciate it!"

When Sunday rolled around, Gladys couldn't keep her eyes off the clock. "Just a few more hours," she said to herself before dozing off for an afternoon nap.

After about thirty minutes, Gladys woke up from her beauty rest, and saw Samantha on her phone, perhaps texting someone or conferring with the people who would be making sure the party is a success. 

Samantha looked up to find her mom had woken up and was just staring into the unknown.

"Well, the ladies up front said everything is set up in the community room."

"Good, I'm glad they got it all set up; I can't wait!" Gladys giggled with excitement.

Just before three o'clock, Samantha slipped out of Gladys's room, and went with the ladies who were throwing the party. They went to the community room, and Samantha sat at a table by herself, blending in with the other residents. Some fun songs were playing on the speaker, and there was a screen set up to play videos.

When three o'clock rolled around, Samantha looked towards the hallway, wanting to get a sneak peek of the family she would soon get to consider part of hers. Samantha's husband and daughter walked in, then got a seat with her.

After about thirty minutes, the door opened from the hall and Gladys, her son and his family, all walked in. Gladys’s son looked confused, with the music and lights with balloons around the room.

Gladys looked around and when her eyes caught Samantha's she gave a nondescript smirk, then pretended to not know what was going on either. 

A moment later, the lights dimmed, and the music went up a bit, the video beginning to play on the screen. Gladys and her son's family were all seated at a table in front of the screen, and Gladys was at once surprised and in tears, realizing that the photos and videos of the little girl on the screen was Samantha.

"Are you okay, mom?" Chris leaned over to Gladys, noticing how emotional she was becoming.

Gladys tried with all her might to hold back the tears, and whispered, "Yes, son."

Chris repositioned in his chair, then whispered to his wife, Becky, "I don't know what this is, honey. Nobody told me anything was going on. Those pictures aren't of mom either."

Finally, when the end drew near, a photo of Gladys and Samantha were side by side - the pictures were of them when they were the same age, thirty five, because it was the only one they could find that really stood out where they looked so identical. The following image was a photo of them together, from the day after they had discovered their long-lost connection.

"Mom?" Chris was shocked as the words came up on the screen: Happy Reunion of a Mother and her Daughter!

"You have a half-sister, Chris; remember I told you years ago? She's here to meet you and your family!"

"Mom, I don't know what to say!" Chris took a minute to find the right words, "I'm so happy for you; I know that you've been waiting practically all your life for this!"

When the lights came back on, there was cake that the ladies made, and plenty of applause from everyone that was there. Gladys immediately brought her son to Samantha.

"Chris, this is Samantha, your half-sister!"

"Little brother?" Samantha cried out, her arms wide open for an embrace, "I can't believe I have a little brother - it's so good to meet you!"

Chris didn't cry, but he was overwhelmed with the news, and embraced his half-sister, "It is good to finally meet you..."

When they were over the initial greeting, they introduced each others' family and talked for hours with each other. The siblings finally united, rejoiced in their mom's ultimate happiness.