The story is not believable.
But true.
When Dad created me, he ghosted the mother and moved on. Both biological parents were in the Air Force, stationed in the DC area.
They would have both been discharged if it had been known that they created a child.
As it was, only mom was discharged and Dad went on to finish college via the GI bill.
He married and created two more daughters.
I was given to a family in Amarillo, TX.
90 miles away, bio dad moved his family to Lubbock, TX.
So close, so far away, so strange.
He was a brilliant attorney and a fearful alcoholic.
I found his name and searched the nation for years.
I was sitting on my front porch when I got the abrupt phone call, "He is dead, you can stop trying to find him”. The call was from my biological mother.
I moved on, consummed with trying to find rehab services for his grandson, also a brilliant addict, my son.
A few months later I again entered my father's name into a search engine. Aubrey Gammill.
And there it was, listed in a book dedication. A book penned by his daughter, Joani Gammill. I had the name of a sister!
The title of the book took my breath away, my palms were sweating. The impossible was set into motion.
THE INTERVENTIONIST
I knew of Joani! I had watched her arrange addiction services many times on the TV show, Dr. Phil.
My sister. By that time, she was an orphan.
It was three days before she responded to my voice mail.
During our third phone conversation, she asked about my family.
She said that Dad had died while driving under the influence of alcohol. His passenger was also killed.
I told her about her dad's grandson. Her nephew.
We shared our lives, I was a midwife for many years and she was a labor and delivery nurse.
Our dad had died in Arizona.
My son was living in Arizona.
6 months later my sister and I went to Arizona, meeting for the first time upon landing. Complete with film crew.
Together we scooped my son off the streets and flew him to an intensive, long term treatment program. He came back, sober, and completed his Master's degree in public administration.
Aubrey Gammill's grandson, the brilliant addict, is the Substance Use Analyst for the city of Burlington, VT.
I met my father at his graveside in Arizona.
Did Aubrey send his daughter to save his grandson whose sole focus is now saving the lives of others facing the challenge of substance use disorders?
Joani Gammill is still an active interventionist in the state of Maryland.
My son is now getting a second Master’s in counseling.
Amazing! Thank u for sharing
What a heartwarming story. Fact is often much more interesting than fiction.
Sometimes, things just don't work out the way you would like them to – and as my daughter said to me, you can fix things dad, but you can't fix people.
But I still wonder .......