Meet my family

I have a big brother named Dan. He's a pastor in Truro, and plays lots of instruments, just like me. He's got a wife and three kids. I haven't met him yet, or his family. But I will.

I have a big sister named Tammy, whom I'm so proud to be related to. She's strong and smart and gifted. And she loves teens, just like me. I can see so much of myself in her, and that scares me, because I'm afraid that will make it hard for us to get close to each other. And I really want to. She has a husband and a baby on the way in September. I hope I will get to be a part of his or her life.

I have a big brother named Tim, whom I love already; I think I loved him from the moment I met him. He has a huge heart and even though I've only just begun to know him, I find that I miss him in a way I can't begin understand. His wife Erin was so quick to reach out to me, and welcomed me into their home and life like I belonged there. And that has made all the difference; I am so grateful. My niece Ana is beautiful and hilarious and articulate and it hurts me that she lives so far away and I can't watch her grow up. My niece Addison makes me melt, and it amazes me that this little person will grow up to know me as her "aunt", and her daddy's sister. I never thought I would know that feeling.

I have another brother out there somewhere, who I will probably never know, and who the others don't know either. But that's okay. For now.

I have a father out there somewhere who did a bad and violent thing, and because of that bad and violent thing, I came into the world. They didn't catch him, so I will never know him.

And I had a mother who thought of me often, who as I understand it was haunted by the secret of my birth. She kept it from everyone, even her closest friend. She revealed it, only because she had no choice when confronted with the evidence, to my sister Tammy who sought me out; my brothers didn't know I existed until after I'd been found. I wish I could have told her that she had done the right thing. I wish I could have thanked her and reassured her.

But God's timing is perfect. Of this, I have no doubt.