Many people hope to be reunited with their long lost relatives. Samantha Thomas never gave up her hope, even after a decade of dead ends.

Samantha Thomas first tried to discover her birth parents when she was 18 years old.

But the search seemed almost impossible. Her adoptive parents only had two vague pieces of information about her birth parents: They were from Chicago and they thought that her father was named Eddy.

She realized that that was not enough information to identify anyone and got on with her life, occasionally searching for any scraps of information.

But by the time that Samantha was in her late 20s, things had changed in her life. She was married and had had two children.

Motherhood made her realize just how important it was to find her own birth mother.

Eventually, she was able to locate some key information from the adoption attorney: her parents had left her three things.

They were a letter, a blanket and a photograph. The attorney had filed them away for years, without Samantha ever knowing about them.

Samantha tried to locate the items, but the adoption attorney informed her that the letter and photo had been recently destroyed.

Upon hearing this news, Samantha was devastated. If she had learned about these items even just a year beforehand, she would have been able to track down her parents.

But just knowing about the items also taught her something she had never had any proof of before. Her parents wanted Samantha in their lives.

If they had written to her, included a photo of them and given her a gift, then that could only mean that they had wanted to be a part of her life.

With this information, Samantha went to court to find her original birth certificate.

Luckily, the judge agreed that the items proved that Samantha’s parents wanted contact with her.

Against all the odds, Samantha was given her birth certificate. She learned that her mother’s name was Valerie Lopez.

So Samantha searched the white pages for a Valerie Lopez in Chicago. Of the hundreds of results, she located one that said that she was related to an “Eddy.” Could it be that this was the same Eddy that was her father? At first, Samantha couldn’t believe that her parents would still be in a relationship. So she decided to research this particualr Valerie Lopez further.

When Samantha located this Valerie Lopez on Facebook, her husband, Trent, was convinced that they were looking at Samantha’s mother. The family resemblance was strong.

Samantha tried to rein in her emotions. If she convinced herself that this was her mother and was wrong, she would have been bitterly disappointed.

So Samantha contacted the woman.

Her message said that she was born on January 5th 1990 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She then explained her story of never knowing about the letter and other gifts until they had been destroyed. Then she told her about going to the judge and getting her birth certificate. She also left some further information about herself. Finally, she ended the message stating that if she was her daughter, she would like to get in touch.

Samantha waited anxiously. For days, she was checking her phone, hoping for a message. Then, four days later, Valerie responded.

Valerie confirmed to Samantha that she was her birth mother. She also said that Samantha’s message had brought tears to her eyes. Valerie explained that the decision to give her up “was the biggest mistake of my life.”

Soon, the mother and daughter were talking on the phone.

Samantha told her all about her life with her adoptive parents. Valerie revealed that she had married Samantha’s birth father four years after giving birth to her. They also had three more children, two boys and a girl. They had recently divorced.

Samantha was amazed to learn that she had three siblings. From that point onwards, she and her mother would talk on the phone every single day.

Soon, Samantha had also messaged and called her father. They all decided that Samantha should write a message for her three siblings and that the parents would share it with them in person.

Shortly after the parents told Samantha’s siblings about her, they were all Facetiming. They all were over the moon to speak. And Samantha said that she could meet everyone in person in just over a month.

On September 2nd, 2017, Samantha was finally able to meet her entire family, after almost 27 years. She has since formed a close bond with them and their extended families.

Even a few years later, Samantha still has a lot of catching up to do. She visits her newfound family as often as possible.

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Source: Love What Matters, Samantha Thomas