God’s timing is always perfect even if we find it curious! Eleven years, one month, two weeks, and one day after our Mom went to be with Jesus, my brothers and I met her birth family on her biological Mother’s side. The acceptance, grace, and generosity they showed us was beyond expectation! We are all looking forward to our next trip with our kids and more of our newly found family! We met my Mom’s half-sister (!!) Lynn Evans, and the daughter, Tiffany Dearman (and her amazing granddaughters!), of her other half-sister, Cheryl Johnson, who is laughing it up in heaven with their mom, Lillian Tew Norris. We spent a few days in her birthplace, Natchez, Mississippi, sharing pictures, stories, and just wondering. We toured the home where Lillian gave birth to Mom on August 16, 1942, the King's Daughters Home for Unwed Mothers. It is now a Bed and Breakfast. It has been surreal, but also a huge confirmation of what we had always held and hoped as truth: Mom was loved and always wanted, and even now, she lives in her fulfillment with all questions answered. And here, as extensions of her search with longing, we are experiencing the joy of discovering the beautiful people who lived parallel lives, also wondering and dreaming about her and us. There are many things we will not know this side of heaven, but one thing is as true then as now: people do the very best they can with what they have, often at the expense of their own hearts and desires. Our mom lived a beautiful life, and now she lives an even more beautiful eternity. Photo Creds: Amanda Gliddon @palomina77, ancestry sleuth and beautiful friend!