The best things happen when you least expect them… Finally, Betty Morrell, 82, is reunited with her 96-year-old biological mother after a 50-year unsuccessful search.
A heartbreaking separation
Born in 1919, Lena Pierce lost her father when she was just a child. From then on, it was her and her mother, facing the setbacks of life. They had to move many times before settling in the heart of New York.
As reported by the American daily abcnews, Lena became pregnant at the dawn of her thirteenth spring. On February 11, 1933, in Utica, New York, she gave birth to a daughter named Eva Mae. But the happiness was fleeting: after 6 months, her daughter was taken away from her on the pretext that she was a ward of the state.
Little Eva was adopted by a loving family on Long Island and raised as Betty Morell. Like many other only children, Betty longed for a brother or sister.
Betty was living a normal life until a neighborhood kid told her she was adopted. What she thought was a bad joke turned out to be a poignant truth. After asking her mother, she confirmed the child’s revelation. But, for fear of losing her, she chose to keep part of the truth about her birth mother hidden. She told her that her mother died giving birth to her. Betty doesn’t ask for more information, she chooses to move on.
The story picks up years later, when the adoptive mother passes away, shocking revelations surface. It is her aunt who reveals the shocking truth: she learns that she is from Utica and that her birth mother is still alive.
Despite the love and attention she received from her adoptive parents, a piece of her happiness puzzle was still missing. It was then in 1966 that she took off in search of her mother. She began by contacting all the hospitals in Utica, of which only one finally responded, indicating that on the same date of birth of February 11, 1933, two birth certificates had been registered; a boy x and a girl named Eva Mae. However, this line of research led nowhere, because when she contacted the adoption agency, she hit a wall: no information about her case could be released; it was a closed adoption. Betty then decided to put her mission aside to move to Florida and take care of her family.
Betty’s granddaughter, Kimberly Miccio, often comes to her house and listens to her grandmother’s desperate attempts to reach her family. Kimberly, intrigued by the mystery behind this case, puts herself in the shoes of a seasoned inspector to help her grandmother. It was not until September 2015 that she succeeded in her mission. On the Ancestry.com website, she came across a distant relative, who then put her in touch with Milie Hawk, one of Léna’s daughters.
Betty, who had always dreamed of having brothers, discovered that she had six, and that’s not all! She learned that her biological mother was still alive. Betty could not have imagined a better scenario. After a phone call between the two sisters, Betty and Milie, the latter was responsible for informing the mother, who was preparing, at the time of the events, to lead a game of bingo in the fire station adjacent to her apartment in Hallstead, Pennsylvania. Her grandmother’s reaction “she broke down and started crying” Milie told the American daily ABC.
The long-awaited moment finally arrives, but it brings with it unanswered questions, apprehensions and expectations. In the Greater Binghamton Airport, mother and daughter meet for the first time, one day in January 2016.
Lena, moved and nostalgic, explains to her daughter that she has never left her thoughts during all these years and that she has always tried to find her, but each time she tries, she finds herself at an impasse.