Roots

I think most people that know me know I’m adopted and that 10 years ago I managed to track down my birth mother, who to my surprise was still in touch with my birth father, Pete, who had settled in Perth Australia.

Contact with Pete had always been a bit sporadic, but last year James bought me a DNA Kit for my birthday, and when my results were uploaded I found that Pete had also done his DNA, and the match was confirmed. It also spurred Pete into getting back in touch, I guess seeing in black and white via DNA your ‘daughter’ pop up on Ancestry is quite a thing !

Not all adoptee’s can say this, but my Mum and Dad were such lovely parents and my life so brilliant, that I didn’t go looking for a ‘mum’ or ‘dad’, I already had them, but rather I guess to close the loop, and out of curiosity.

I met my birth mother about 8 years ago, but with Pete in Perth, that was always going to be more challenging, so when he got back in touch last September we changed our flights to Perth so I could meet up with him.

We flew into Perth Wednesday quite late, and he had booked Thursday night at the same hotel, so we met up in Reception quite early Thursday. In fact he arrived at 9am, I was still in bed LOL, he now knows I’m more of a night owl !

It’s quite awkward negotiating the initial conversations when you literally know nothing about each other, other than the barest of information. Safe to say Pete has had quite a life, from working in the Film Industry as a Precision Driver, to Diamond dredging in Western Australia, then working on oil rigs all over the world, and at times I couldn’t get a word in edgeways (as hard as some of you might find that to believe). We found hilarious a story from his film days of having to look after an actor who tended to find trouble – Google ‘John Bindon party trick’. At least I now know where the ‘chatty’ side of me comes from. He’s also the only person I have ever met (or likely to meet) who has a hyperbaric chamber in his bedroom !

I’m obviously very important to him though, with a huge hug on our initial meeting, and the opportunity to meet up with him at long last was great and I’m so glad we changed our flights around to make that happen, for both of us.

My birth parents (and their families) have never felt like family to me, and that hasn’t changed since meeting Pete, but it’s nice to connect, and I doubt this will be the only time I head over to Perth.