My dad was adopted as an infant because he was born to teenage parents in April 1969. As soon as his biological mother started showing, she was forced to move away and not stay in contact with the biological dad. The dad (Alfred) was heartbroken and tried to keep in contact with her (Lynn). When my dad was born, Lynn gave him to a catholic adoption agency, where two loving parents adopted him. My dad’s biological parents continued living in upstate New York, and it just so happened that my dad and his adoptive parents didn’t live far by. Alfred was in agony about not being able to see Lynn, so he transferred colleges to be with her. A few years later they ended up getting married. They lived in Wynantskill, NY and my dad in his family lived in the Troy are of NY. Later in high school my dad attended Saratoga Springs High School, which is about an hour from Wynantskill. Lynn and Alfred ended up getting married and had nine children! Seven boys and two girls. Although my dad new he was adopted, he never new nor really cared who his biological parents were. As for Lynn and Alfred, they never told their nine children that they had an older brother. Years and years went by, without anyone knowing anything. Alfred and Lynn always prayed for my dad, especially on his birthday, but both them and my dad never had the urge to seek one another out. Tuesday, April 8th  2014, our lived changed forever. My dad found his adoption papers a few years prior, they stated his birth mother’s name, and a few other things, but he never decided to do anything with them until the day after his birthday (April 8th, 2014). Every morning my dad prays and reads part of the bible before he begins his day of work. On this particular day, he felt the Holy Spirit tell him to grab his adoption papers, which had been sitting on his desk for over a year. Within 45 minutes he learned that his biological mother died of breast cancer six years ago, but his birth dad was still around and only about an hour away! At this point he was on a mission. He was a little hesitant about seeking his father out because he wasn’t sure if he had known that Lynn had a baby, little did he know at this point that they got married and had other children. My dad found Alfred’s house and knocked on the front door, he waited and waited but remained calm. No one was home. He went back into the car to collect himself. Then he remembered that he read about a family restaurant that one of Alfred’s family members owns. He drove to the restaurant, and then walked in. My dad happened to be wearing a dress shirt and pants, while carrying papers. He asks someone (who he would later find out is his second cousin) if he knows an Alfred Deeb, they yell to the back and say “hey Al, it looks like a cop wants to talk to ya.” Al also known as Albert came to talk to my dad, my dad says to him “do you know an Alfred Deeb?” He says, “Yeah I do, are you related? You know, you kind of look like one of them Deeb’s.” My dad broke down and told him that Alfred might be his dad. Albert was in complete shock and ends up calling Josiah (who my dad would soon find out is one of his brothers). Josiah thought Albert was fooling around so he hung up. Albert then called again and told him it was serious. They end up getting Alfred on the phone to speak to my dad. Alfred says, “So you think you’re my son?” My dad says “yes” and tells him what he knows. Alfred then asks, “When’s your birthday?” My dad replies “April, 7th 1969.” There was a pause and then Alfred says, “I prayed for you yesterday.”  My dad gave him his number (Alfred was at work) in hopes that he would call tomorrow (Wednesday). That night Alfred got his nine children on the phone and explained the story. It could have gone terrible, but it was the exact opposite, they were beyond excited to learn that they have an older brother! Unfortunately Alfred told them my dad’s name was Jeff Turner (it is really Jeff Purner). They tried finding him on Facebook, but couldn’t. Finally one of them tried “Jeff Purner” long story short they all Facebook stalked my family, to get a feel about who we are. Wednesday came around, and my dad and Alfred ended up meeting for lunch, my dad was speechless, he told us “it was the most amazing feeling in the world.” They talked and talked, and towards the end of lunch Alfred asked the waitress, “Can you take our picture? I’m meeting my son for the first time.” Alfred was beyond excited about getting to know my dad. After learning about his nine siblings (fully related to him), he got to meet five out of the nine on Thursday. They were all so accepting of us, and wanted to get to know us better. On Saturday, my mom, brother, sister and I got to meet two of his brothers, his sister, and dad. It all felt so natural. They are all so loving. Then on Sunday we went to a big family gathering where we got to meet more siblings, aunts, uncles, and cousins! They couldn’t have been more welcoming. They already refer to my dad as their older brother/son/nephew/cousin. On Sunday Alfred’s sisters were telling me how for the past few months, the thought of my dad would pop into their head; they had never met him, but new about him. One of them said that she had this reoccurring dream of my dad knocking on the front door, who would have known that dream would become a reality! I can’t even put into words what my dad and our family are feeling. Within a week, my immediate family went from just having each other, to having this humongous family who already loves and accepts us as is they’ve known us forever.

(Condensed Version)

Alfred (Jiddou) was 3 houses down from mine the year prior, inspecting a house
Melissa goes to the Civic Center (down the street from me) every winter
Melissa played softball (at Morse) on the field next to where I play lacrosse
A substitute teacher that I had all throughout high school turns out to be a distant relative
My Aunt’s brother teaches at Saratoga and he would have been my teacher freshman year
Mr. Crotty (same brother) was Gabby and Abbey’s AP Econ teacher their senior year
My Uncle’s mom lives down the street from me, she also is really good friends with the old owner of my house and my high school chorus teacher
My cousin’s name is Lily Grace, and my sister’s name is Lily Grace
They are all “Born Again Christians” and a few months before meeting them we decided to switch from being Catholic to “Born Again Christians”
We have family (adoptive side…hate using that term) in Troy, which is right near Wynantskill
The Deeb’s used to camp at the same spot my dad camped when he was little
My Uncle Jay used to be in contact with one of the Deeb’s through Linkedin