I grew up in the 1960s. During the Christmas season, besides the usual special baking, my mother spent lots of time making Christmas tree ornaments with sequins, sparkle beads and velvet ribbons. She took great pride in teaching me and my sisters these traditions. When I married and had my own children, I spent many pre-holiday hours making ornaments, counting beads, gluing ribbons and teaching my own children how to make them. This Christmas story is not about ornaments ....at least not totally. In late 2016, after spending time, money and working through DNA and Ancestry.com. I was able to identify my mother’s biological mother and father. Yes, she was adopted. She was born in Florida and given up for adoption. Over the years she tried several different ways to find her biological parents but to no avail. My DNA results identified a second cousin match which allowed me to determine mother’s birth parents. After searching, I found that her birth parents had passed several years prior. Her mother had married someone else and had three children, Norma, Tom and Betty Ann. I wrote Betty Ann and with a little skepticism she called me. Over the next few days, with emails and copies of official documents, Betty Ann confirmed through the adoption agency that she and my mother shared the same birth mother. After Christmas 2016, I drove my mother to Pembroke Pines, Florida, to meet her half-siblings. They shared stories, pictures and discovered many similarities. Betty Ann gave my mother a gift. a box of Christmas ornaments their mother had made. They were identical to ones my mother and I have been making for years. Now on my mother’s tree she hangs the beautiful ornaments her own biological mother made years ago.

Sharon Durgin is a children’s book author and member of the Authors for Literacy.