My family, like most, has had its ups and downs through the years. My brothers in particular have all had their share of issues, especially the youngest of the three. He's been married twice and divorced twice, and has one child from each marriage. His daughter is doing well, but his oldest, his son Christopher, had a rough life.
After the divorce, there were a lot of problems with the ex-wife. Even when I was too young to fully grasp what was going on, I knew enough to know that I didn't like her very much. She just seemed off. She did bring Christopher over so he could see his grandparents, but those visits were few and far between.
Eventually, she dropped a bomb on everyone and announced she was moving out of the area. Oh, she promised she would keep in touch and make sure Christopher still got to communicate with his family and whatnot, and that happened a couple of times but not very much.
And then she dropped off the face the planet completely. Phones were disconnected, mail was returned. There was no trace of her or my nephew. The family was worried and did what they could to find Christopher. After several years, it wasn't until my mom was pointed to DCFS and finally reached someone who could help that we all learned what had happened. Christopher had been removed from his mother's care and placed with a foster family (Why DCFS didn't attempt to place him with his dad is still a mystery) and had been adopted by the family. He was healthy, happy, and loved.
My mom, hearing all of this, was relieved he was ok but upset at the process. She decided that if Christopher was happy and being cared for, that was good enough for her with everything he had been through. It was not an easy decision, but she decided to let go and trust that his adoptive family would give him the life he deserved. It was a decision that always bothered her.
But hopefully it won't bother her anymore. Yesterday, my niece called and told my mom that she found Christopher on Facebook (apparently, my spelling skills are for shit which is why I never found him when I tried). We now know where he lives. We know he's doing well. We know he's married. Most importantly, we know he's ok.
This has been the best Christmas ever for a lot of us. Finding Christopher made it the best Christmas ever for my mom. Years of guilt vanished from her face over the course of the night and I can't remember when I've seen her so happy.
Merry Christmas.
