Joanne's Blog

Our last missing sister is FOUND!

2009-10-08T00:27:00.000-07:00

OMG Rose Marie is found! I'm in total shock and so excited! I am so grateful all 8 siblings are found finally after more than 45 yrs apart!

I will update this soon, I promise! I'm going to meet my sister in the morning, I'm so excited!

Rose Marie where are you?

2009-03-24T18:17:00.000-07:00

I am still searching for 1 more sister. Her name was Rose Marie Edwards, dob july 7, 1954

There is more info in this blog I've made. She is 1 of 8 siblings, our parents were Viola and Percy Edwards. I have found all of our siblings except Rose Marie. I really would like to find her and reunite our family finally after over 45 yrs apart.

If you know her or if you are Rose Marie, please please contact me.

Joanne
(Patsy Edwards)

My Dear Brother Andy Passed Away

2008-01-14T21:02:00.000-08:00

I haven't updated my blog in a very long time. I've been so busy, I know it's no excuse but that's all I have right now.

I have been spending as much time with my brother as I possible could for the last few months. My dear brother Andy passed away Dec 19, 2007. I am devastated, I will love and miss him forever.

He is my new hero.

He fought right up to the end, he fought this terrible pancreatic cancer for 2 yrs. He barely complained, and tried to be upbeat and cheerful right to the end. He was always worried about all of us, and not himself.

Tuesday night, Dec 18th, he was laying in his hospital bed. He looked at me and said "I can't hold on any more, it's too hard". I held his hand, kissed his forehead, and said "That's ok Andy, if you can't fight anymore it's ok to give up and rest. I will love you and miss you forever". The next morning he took his last breath, I was holding one hand, our sister in law was holding his other hand.

He is finally out of pain, and in God's arms.

RIP My dear brother, I truly will love you and miss you forever.

I can't finish this post right now. I will come back when I am stronger and do my brother proud.

Tears are truly words the heart can't bear to say. Mine are never ending.

7 out of 8 of us found!!

2007-09-15T20:39:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone, well this has been one fantastic weekend!! I can't even type how this weekend has been right now, I'll have to add it later.

As the old saying goes, "a picture is worth a thousand words", and it's so true!!

Here is a picture of 7 out of 8 of us siblings that are found, it's fantastic!!

Our new found sister Valerie and also our new found brother John (Billy) came to meet us all this weekend! Stella and Catherine (Julie) couldn't make it this weekend, but we added them to the picture too so we could have one of all 7 of us at the same time, and it turned out beautiful!

This picture made me cry like a baby!! I will cherish this forever!

I really need to find Rose Marie, so we can get another picture with all of us siblings in it!!

I need everyone's help please

2007-08-25T07:11:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone:

I really need everyone's help with this. My brother has be diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer. He wishes to reunite with ALL his siblings while he still has the chance.

My brother has limited time, he just has months left. I'm asking for everyone's help so that he may have the chance to meet or just even talk to ALL his siblings before his time is up.

I have located all but 2 siblings, we are still searching for 2 sisters.

Please take a minute, go to this link. Please read it and send it to your friends. The more people that see this, the better. Hopefully someone somewhere knows our sisters, or our sisters will see this, and contact us.

Thanks for your help in advance.

The link is:

http://immigrantships.net/joanne.html

Joanne

VALERIE MARTHA EDWARDS, dob sept 24, 1951, ROSE MARIE EDWARDS, dob july 7, 1954 WHERE ARE YOU??

I FOUND MY BROTHER!! WOOHOOO!!

2007-08-16T22:15:00.000-07:00

Wow, I'm so happy! I found another of my brothers!! How great is that!! Billy is FOUND!!

I think it's fantastic, I'm so happy to have found my brother! I've been looking for Billy, for a very long time, 45 years if you've been reading my blog here. It's fantastic to have found him after all this time. I'm really looking forward to getting to know him, and hopefully one day meeting him!

So far we've been messaging back and forth, and we've talked on the phone once already too! I'm really looking forward to more conversations with him.

My quest continues, I still have to find 2 sisters, which isn't bad considering there were 8 of us!!

I'll update again soon!

Joanne

2007-03-19T09:40:00.000-07:00

This is my big secret I had last week!!

I went to meet my SISTER!!!

This picture has 4 out of 5 of us "found" siblings so far. Top left is my brother Steven (now Andy, I was adopted with him), next to him is my big brother Percy (now Richard, who I found last sept 2006). Bottom left is me Patricia (now Joanne), next to me is my sister Julie (now Catherine, who I found last oct 2006).

My sister had no idea I was coming to meet her, it was a big secret!! She thought it would be weeks until we were able to meet. She was so surprised when I walked in the room and said "Hey Big Sister, I want a hug!!" We did lots of hugging, talking, and just had a wonderful time together for the weekend. I'm looking forward to many many more!

We had a wonderful time, it's her birthday today, so we had a surprise birthday party for her on saturday, complete with bbq dinner, birthday cake and gifts. She was so surprised, it was great!

I'll post more when I have more time.

Joanne

VALERIE MARTHA, ROSE MARIE, BILLY (WILLIAM?) where are you guys???

A Secret!

2007-03-13T13:07:00.000-07:00

Oh I've got a secret!! Stay tuned next week, I can't tell right now, but it's a good one!!

Joanne

VALERIE MARTHA sept 24, 1951, ROSE MARIE july 7, 1954, BILLY (WILLIAM?) JUNE 18, 1957 WHERE ARE YOU GUYS??

Piecing Together The Family History

2007-03-06T10:10:00.000-08:00

I have been working together with a distant cousin to get my family history together.

I just want to say thank you to William Coveduck for all your hard work on this, you did an awesome job. It's not totally finished yet, but we're getting somewhere, there's some pieces to the puzzle that we (I should say He) hasn't figured out yet.

Click on William's Logo to visit his site.

Click on Viola Coveyduck and view my Mother's profile and our Genealogy.

www.coveduck.com

As I get more information I will update this.

Joanne

VALERIE MARTHA, ROSE MARIE, WILLIAM (BILLY) WHERE ARE YOU GUYS?

My "First Mom".....Viola Edwards/Fowler

2007-02-04T16:54:00.000-08:00

This picture is my "first" Mom. I don't remember her at all. It's strange, but I miss her.

I was adopted when I was very little, I think I was 3 or 4 years old. We were all taken from our Mom when I was around 2 yrs old. I knew right from the start that I was adopted. I was adopted with my "real" brother, he was 2 yrs younger than me.

I can not remember anything from the time before I was adopted, I only had one or two memories, that's all I still have. I had nightmares for years, after I was adopted, almost every night. I would wake up screaming and crying. I don't know why.

My brother's room was right across the hallway from me. He is 2 years younger than me, and I always kept him close by, to watch over him. Lots of nights I'd fall asleep in the hallway between mine and my brother's rooms, or we would both sleep in that hallway, right under the window looking outside.

When I was growing up I used to wonder what happened to my "real" mom and dad, where did they go? Why were we adopted?? What did I do?? Was it MY fault?? What was my mom doing now? Where was she living? Was she living? So many questions, no answers. I kept telling myself that one day I would find my MOM, I dreamt about it, I thought about it a lot.

I wish I could have had the chance to meet my Mom. I would have liked to tell her that my brother and I were in a good home. She didn't have to worry about us. I found out that my Mom died as a result of a car accident in 1972, so I won't ever get that chance.

One day I would like the chance to visit her grave. It's very far from where I live right now, almost 3,000 miles. I would like to put flowers on her grave. Maybe some day I'll get that opportunity. I wish my Mom could know that some of us siblings have found each other again, and we are trying very hard to find the rest. I think she would be happy to know that.

Our parents were good to us, we were not mistreated, or abused. We were very fortunate. I didn't realize these things at the time, but now I do. I now appreciate the things our parents did for us, and the lessons they taught us growing up. We didn't do without a lot of things, which we would have if they hadn't adopted us. I love my parents, and am grateful for everything they've done for us. They taught us many things, which we didn't appreciate while growing up.

I love the parents that adopted us, they are my Mom and Dad and always will be.

I also love my "first" Mom.

Joanne

VALERIE MARTHA, ROSE MARIE, BILLY (WILLIAM?) WHERE ARE YOU GUYS?

My Big Brother's Visit!!

2007-02-03T22:33:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone, this is a picture of my brothers and myself. Left is my youngest brother I was adopted with, middle is my big brother I found 3 months ago, and that's me.

This picture was taken a few weeks ago when my big brother came to Alberta to buy his house. He's moving here in just a few weeks now, I can hardly wait!!

This was the first time my two brothers met since we've been separated over 45 years ago! What a wonderful time they had together getting acquainted! It was very nice to see. After just a few days they were just like brothers that's for sure, picking on me every chance they got!! And I didn't mind a bit!!

Anyways I just learned how to put these pictures on here so now I can do some more. I'll be adding more pictures soon.

Joanne

VALERIE, ROSE MARIE, BILLY (WILLIAM?) where are you guys??

My Sisters

2007-02-03T10:10:00.000-08:00

In my search I have found 2 sisters!

That's like a dream come true for me!! The whole time I was growing up I wanted a big sister to talk to, to share things with, someone to talk to. Little did I know at that time that I already had sisters, and brothers for that matter, nobody told me. I was so young when I was adopted, I didn't remember. I've been told that I've blocked out everything that happened to me from before I was adopted. Needless to say when I found out over 25 years ago that there were not just me and my youngest brother, but there were a total of 8 kids in our family, I was so shocked. I couldn't even think straight, all I could do was sit and cry. I actually was at work when I got this news, I had to get someone to take me home.

I sat and cried all day, I was hurt that I hadn't known this HUGE piece of information, and why couldn't I remember something as important and brothers and sisters? All the time I was growing up I thought I was the oldest, I was actually the second youngest!! WOW!! Now I knew my mission in life, I wanted desperately to find my brothers and sisters, HAD to find them, and right now too (I have absolutely NO patience at all), and bring my family back together again after all this time apart.

Well it took a long time, but I finally found my oldest sister!! I had to mail a letter to her to talk to her, snail mail too, so more waiting, but I had a sister!! I still have that letter I sent her, and I found out just recently that she has that letter too. This sister is the oldest of us all, and I'm so happy to have found her, I just found her around 4 years ago. We talked on the phone lots, and for hours at a time. Then she and her husband came out to meet me, for the weekend. I was in heaven!! To finally see my big sister, and hug her, it was fantastic. The weekend flew by way too fast.

Then finally I found my oldest brother just a couple months ago, well ok, it's been 3 months now!! I have had the chance to meet him in person too, he sent me a ticket to visit him, that was so wonderful, we had such a nice visit. (see earlier post about my big brother).

When I returned home from visiting him, I was back searching for my other siblings. My sister knew a married name for one of my sisters, and with a lot of help from Babbs and the group I got an email address for a woman with the same name. I sent her an email asking if she was my sister. I got a return email from her, YES SHE WAS MY SISTER!!! Woohooo!!! I sent her my phone number, and she phoned me, we talked for hours!! I'm so excited to have found her too!! I haven't gotten to meet her in person yet, but soon I will, I can't wait!!

My sister is moving in with my brother once he's moved from Nova Scotia, so they'll be so much closer to me, I can't wait, I'm so excited!

What a wonderful feeling to have 2 big sisters in my life now, and of course a big brother! It is so great to have them to talk to. I look forward to spending as much time with them as I can, and getting to know them.

My oldest daughter is getting married this summer, and we are all 5 going to be at her wedding, I can't wait for us all to be together again for the first time in 45 years!! I'm hoping to find more of my siblings before that time.

Joanne

VALERIE, ROSE MARIE, BILLY (WILLIAM?) WHERE ARE YOU GUYS??

Doing your search

2007-02-01T17:18:00.000-08:00

If you came to this blog, I'm thinking you are affected in some way by adoption. If you are searching for a family member, I wish you the best of luck in your search

Myself I am not such a great "searcher", but I've gotten lots of help from some very kind and caring people. There are some very loving people called "Search Angels" that help people searching for their families, I can suggest a couple groups I recommend you join:

http://www.adoptiondatabase.org/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SoaringAngels/

http://www.isrr.net/ this registry is a definite must, everyone will tell you to register on this site. You have to print out the form for this one and mail it in to them.

There are lots of other groups you could join, these are a couple I am on and the people here are fantastic.

I also recommend that you post your search information on every adoption registry you can find, and also register with your state board.

It is a good idea to have a journal to keep track of where you've registered, who you talked to in your search, people you've contacted, and their responses. You should also keep a list of where you register and your usernames and passwords.

Anyways, that's a good place to start, and once you are on a few groups, people will be more than happy to help you along in your search.

I wish you all the best in your search.

Joanne

VALERIE MARTHA, ROSE MARIE, BILLY WHERE ARE YOU GUYS?

Blog addresses for my fellow adoptees

2007-01-30T07:49:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone, I thought I would put links to my fellow adoptees blogs here. If you came here to visit my blog, or got here by accident, thank you for visiting, and please visit their blogs too.

We all need to help each other in our search for our birth families, every little thing helps. So if you check out their blogs, and these people or their stories sound familiar, please contact them asap as we have all been searching for our birth families for a very long time.

Any and all help is greatly appreciated.

Here are some of the links, I will be adding to this list as my fellow adoptees create their blogs:

http://www.victorialeemarkland.blogspot.com/

http://www.myspace.com/meehanschild

http://blog.myspace.com/meehanschild

http://auntpattyadoptionblog.blogspot.com/

VALERIE MARTHA, ROSE MARIE, BILLY WHERE ARE YOU GUYS?

"My name is "Adoptee" and I am a POW"

2007-01-30T07:39:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone, again I'd like to post something from a fellow adoptee, she just knows how to say what a great many of us feel.

So here it is, and again, I post this with her permission. I have put her name and adopted name at the bottom of the article, and also the link to her blog. Check it out.

Thanks for visiting, and if you are searching, I wish you all the best in your search.

Joanne

My name is "Adoptee" and I am a POW

My name is “Adoptee”And I am a POW. I am being held captive by the bureaucracy of the government of the United States of America.

Although my captors treat me politely, they do NOT treat me like a human being. While human beings are allowed to celebrate their heritage, mine is hidden from me. While human beings are allowed to know their genetic makeup, mine is hidden from me. While human beings are allowed to know their medical history, mine is hidden from me.

When I ask to have the same information as human beings, I am told I must fill out a multitude of forms and, in some cases, pay for the information on these forms. When I complete the multitude of forms and pay the ransom required, my captors decide what parts of the information I’m allowed to view and what I’m not.

While human beings of the United States of America have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, as “Adoptee”, my captors are allowed to determine which life I live, how much liberty I have in living that life, and to control my pursuit of happiness.

I beg for release from captivity. I beg for freedom. I beg to be a human being !!

My name is “Adoptee”And I am a Prisoner of the Adoption War

Victoria Lee Markland a/k/a Mary J. Gable
http://www.victorialeemarkland.blogspot.com/

VALERIE MARTHA, ROSE MARIE, BILLY WHERE ARE YOU GUYS?

I AM NOT A COUNTERFEIT HANDBAG

2007-01-27T09:52:00.000-08:00

A fellow adoptee posted this on a registry group I'm on. Wow, this says it all!! With her permission I am putting it on my blog. Sure makes ya think hey?

Here it is:

I AM NOT A COUNTERFEIT HANDBAG

........the creation of which has to be kept a secret for fear of the "creator" or the "purchaser" being discovered and hauled off to some penal institution.

I AM A REAL PERSON .........who' s "creators" gave me life. I breathe, laugh, cry, think, pray, conceive, give birth and die. And, why, as "real persons", are we not allowed to know who our "creators" are? The creation of a counterfeit handbag can be more easily traced than the background of an adopted person. There's something wrong with this entire concept. I've heard the theory that the birth parents couldn't keep their children for any number of reasons. I CAN completely understand ANY of the reasons the birth parents came to that conclusion. But, why am I, a completely innocent Person, not allowed to know anything about those two people who conceived me? I've heard the theory that the adoptive parents needed everything to be completely secretive (in adoptions of years past) for numerous reasons. I CANNOT understand any part of that theory.

For argument's sake, let's go back to the counterfeit handbag. If the handbag could speak, it could tell you exactly which cow its leather came from. If asked who sewed it together, it could name the precise seamstress. If asked about its lining, it could tell you the fabric mill the lining came from.

When the adopted "real person" fills out a physician's history form, the adopted "real person" has to enter "no history - adopted". When the adopted "real person" is asked, in elementary school, to complete a family-tree project, the adopted "real person" has to enter "no history - adopted". When the adopted "real person" is asked, by their grown children who are thinking of having children of their own, what might be in their medical background, the adopted "real person" must answer "no history - adopted".

EXCUSE ME, but I am a REAL PERSON and I DO have a history. And all of these supposedly well-meaning people are keeping it from me. The people who know something about me and aren't telling goes on and on .. the parents of the birth parents, the birth parents themselves, the maternity home (if applicable), the hospital, the doctor, the adoption agency, the foster home (if applicable), the lawyer for the birth parents, the lawyer for the adoptive parents, the clerk in the lawyer's office, the judge handling the adoption proceedings, the government of my state and the adoptive parents (if applicable). Every single entity listed knows SOMETHING about me that I have a RIGHT to know.

I think I'd rather be a counterfeit handbag !!!

By Victoria Lee Markland a/k/a Mary Jane Dachsteiner Gable.

Here is the addy for Mary's blog:
http://www.victorialeemarkland.blogspot.com/

Thank you Mary for letting me post this on my blog. I wish you all the luck in your search.

Joanne
ISO VALERIE EDWARDS sept 24, 1951, ROSE MARIE EDWARDS july 7, 1954, and BILLY (WILLIAM?) EDWARDS june 18, 1957.

Where are you??

new email address

2007-01-26T10:29:00.000-08:00

Well what a day I had today. I got up this morning, and like always, signed into my email. Well I TRIED to sign into my email. Seems yahoo had an attitude this morning (still does), and it wouldn't let me into my email. I NEED my email!!! Don't they understand that people rely on their emails. It tells me that "yahoo care" has "flagged and or deactivated" my email account??? What the heck?? Why?? I've been good, done nothing wrong!! I emailed back and forth with yahoo, but still can't get into my email box. That really really sucks, I have so much stuff in there that I need, and now I can't get to it.

I had to give up on them, and get a new email address, so here it is: joanneb311@yahoo.ca.

If I didn't need a yahoo address to get into my yahoo groups, I would go with hotmail or something, but it doesn't work that way I see. How frustrating!!

So now I have to go back to EVERY registry I'm on and change my email address, now that is REALLY annoying!! That's going to take forever, since I'm on tons of them.

I hope this isn't a sign of how the rest of my day is going to be!! Well thanks for letting me vent.

Joanne

P.S.

VALERIE, ROSE MARIE, AND BILLY??? WHERE ARE YOU GUYS??

Searching and not really finding.............today, tomorrow is another day!!

2007-01-23T23:45:00.000-08:00

Wow what a day this was. I just want to say a huge thank you to a special Angel Jules!! Thank you so much for your hard work yesterday, what a ride that was! All the emails, the phone calls, you are amazing Jules, don't be so hard on yourself you were wonderful, I am truly grateful for all you've done for me. Hugs to you.

Today didn't work out so well, but that's what this is all about, it's a rollercoaster ride, it's what we have to do to get to the pot of gold at the end, when we finally find who we are looking for. Today just wasn't the right time I guess, everything happens when and if it is the right time. Hopefully that will come soon, and you just never know, there are still unanswered questions here, the answers will come in time. Hopefully she gets her non id information and it will clear up a lot of the questions we still have. Don't rule out anything yet, I'm still praying, I'm very stubborn, I don't give up that easy at all.

Sending a big box of kleenex to you, and the biggest hug ever!! Thank you!!

Joanne B

P.S.

I believe we will find who we are looking for when the time is right.

VALERIE MARTHA, ROSE MARIE, BILLY WHERE ARE YOU GUYS?

BILLY (WILLIAM) EDWARDS dob june 18, 1957

2007-01-22T10:34:00.000-08:00

BILLY (WILLIAM) EDWARDS, dob june 18, 1957, if you see this please contact me asap. I am your birth sister and I really want to find you. Anyone who knows this person please email me asap. I have been looking for my brother for over 25 years and I really want to find him.

There is more information in earlier blogs here.

Thanks
Joanne

VALERIE MARTHA, ROSE MARIE, BILLY WHERE ARE YOU GUYS?

ROSE MARIE EDWARDS dob july 7, 1954

2007-01-22T10:33:00.000-08:00

ROSE MARIE EDWARDS, dob july 7, 1954, if you see this, please contact me asap. I am your birth sister, and I really want to find you. Anyone who knows this person, please email me asap.

I have been looking for my sister for over 25 years, and I really want to find her.

There is more information in earlier blogs here.

Thanks
Joanne

VALERIE MARTHA, ROSE MARIE, BILLY WHERE ARE YOU GUYS?

VALERIE MARTHA EDWARDS dob sept 24, 1951

2007-01-22T10:30:00.000-08:00

VALERIE MARTHA EDWARDS, dob sept 24, 1951, if you read this, please contact me asap. I am your birth sister, and I really want to find you. Anyone who knows this person, please email me and let me know.

I've been looking for my sister for over 25 years now, and I really want to find her. There is more information in earlier blogs here.

Thanks
Joanne

VALERIE MARTHA, ROSE MARIE, BILLY WHERE ARE YOU GUYS?

more to come

2007-01-16T18:08:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone. Stay tuned for more to come, about my 2 sisters and another brother. I will also be blogging about my search for all my siblings.

VALERIE MARTHA, ROSE MARIE, BILLY WHERE ARE YOU GUYS?

My big brother!

2007-01-16T09:47:00.000-08:00

Well its a sad day for me, kinda. I miss my big brother.

I found him just before Halloween this year. What a happy day that was, after 45 years, I was actually talking to him on the phone!! WOW!!

I went out to visit him in Nova Scotia, he sent me a ticket, how sweet is that. We had a great visit, it was like we were never apart for 45 years.

Last week my big brother came out with his wonderful wife. They're moving here!!! Well ok, it's still 2 hrs away from me, but that's way better than all the way across Canada. We got to spend the weekend together, after they found and bought a house. Well that was fantastic!!

My youngest brother just happened to be at my house at the same time, they got to meet for the first time in 45 years!! I'm so happy for them both.

Well now my big brother and his wife have gone back home. The good thing is that they went home to pack up their house, and they're moving here in just 6 weeks!!! I absolutely cannot wait for them to be living here, and so close!!

Happy days are surely here again!!

Joanne

VALERIE MARTHA, ROSE MARIE, BILLY WHERE ARE YOU GUYS?

My Search

2007-01-15T14:06:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone. Thank you for reading my blog. I created this blog in hopes I can find my 2 sisters and my brother.

Here is my story:

I am 1 of 8 children separated by adoption. I grew up outside of Hamilton Ontario. Before we were taken by the Children's Aid in Hamilton Ontario, we lived in Dundas Ontario. We were taken by the Children's Aid, between 1961 and 1963.

Our parents are Viola and Percy Edwards. The siblings are: Stella, Valerie, Percy, Rose Marie, Julie, Billy, Patricia and Steven.

My birth name is Patricia (Patsy) Edwards, I was adopted with my birth brother Steven.

So far in my search I have located my oldest sister Stella, my oldest brother Percy, and my older sister Julie. I was adopted with my youngest birth brother Steven.

I am still searching for my sisters: VALERIE MARTHA EDWARDS DOB SEPT 24, 1951, AND ROSE MARIE EDWARDS DOB JULY 7, 1954, and my brother BILLY (WILLIAM?) EDWARDS DOB JUNE 18, 1957.

I have registered on numerous adoption registries, hopefully they will see my posts on one of them and get in touch with me. (or anyone who may have information about them)

Our family has been separated for 45 years, and we would love to find them and bring our family together again finally.

Joanne

VALERIE MARTHA, ROSE MARIE, BILLY WHERE ARE YOU GUYS?