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Family Reunion
Missi told Laurie she was born at Hamot by C-section because she was breech. They compared medical notes. Missi had migraines -- just like Laurie. She had problems with her toes -- just like Laurie. She had impacted canine teeth. So did Laurie. With each new detail, the likelihood grew. Still, they wanted official confirmation. That afternoon, they went to the county courthouse and filled out the paperwork requesting that the Orphans' Court staff pull Missi's file.And then Missi began to have second thoughts. What if the parents she had known all her life, who had changed her diapers, packed her school lunches, sent her off into the world armed with love -- what if they felt threatened, circumvented, excluded? The last thing she wanted to do was hurt them. Had she been right to agree to start this bizarre search? But how could she refuse to know her own history? And if it turned out her birth parents weren't Laurie and Chuck after all, would she keep looking?
Answers to those questions came the following week. Missi got the news while out driving and rushed back to tell Laurie. She went into her office and closed the door. Tears began to well in Missi's eyes. All she could say was, "Uhhh-huhhh."
Missi had put off telling Doug and Sandy anything until that day. Then she prepared the scene carefully, opting to do it in the wood-paneled living room at her grandmother's house. "I just want you to know that I love you very, very much," she said. "But I want you to know something," she continued, fighting back tears. "I accidentally found my biological parents."
Chuck and Laurie Thompson showed up at the Meelys' home on an August afternoon with a bouquet of flowers and a pair of nervous smiles. They rang the bell, dogs started barking and the door swung open.
Doug and Sandy Meely greeted them with warm hugs as Missi looked on excitedly. Then they all went outside, where Doug tossed hot dogs on the grill and Sandy told stories about Missi's childhood.
When the Meelys first heard Missi's news, they'd accepted it -- not without some question and doubt, yet confident in their love for her and hers for them. Sandy put together a photo album for the Thompsons, showing Missi petting deer at Marineland, smiling with missing front teeth, posing awkwardly with prom dates. When she saw those photos, Laurie knew Missi had been happy and well loved. Her eyes filled with tears, of joy and of regret. Joy that Missi had had such a perfect childhood. Regret that she and Chuck hadn't been part of it.
Missi left her job at the radio station. Working with a boss who was also her mom was just a bit too complicated. She and Laurie and Chuck go boating on Lake Erie, attend concerts and get together for family gatherings.
Now Missi is beginning to make plans for her future and the possibility of marriage -- and children. The wedding may be crowded but not complicated. Both sets of parents will be there. And Doug has invited Chuck to join him in escorting their daughter down the aisle.
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