Rita, 65, of Denver turned to Jeremy Bloom’s Wish of a Lifetime (JBWOL) in hopes of finding her daughter that she gave up for adoption.
Rita was born and raised in California in the Los Angeles area. At 17 years old, she left home to be independent, but still continued to live in the LA area. She fell in love with a young man over the next few years, and found out she was pregnant in 1966 after going to the doctor with stomach cramps. Unprepared to be a parent and without the resources to take care of the cost of a child, she and the father gave the baby up for adoption. A year later, Rita married the father and they stayed together and went on to raise 3 children. They had been afraid to tell their parents and it was not until later in life that Rita told her mother. Her mother told her that she would have supported the baby, a detail that had gnawed at Rita her whole life.
Rita’s Wish of a Lifetime was to meet the daughter she gave up for adoption. Wish of a Lifetime was able to get the contact information for her daughter, Emily who lives in Tualatin, OR. Wish of a Lifetime reached Emily, who was surprised, but was extremely receptive about connecting with Rita. What started out slowly as an exchange of letters has now become almost daily telephone calls. They enjoy comparing photos, and have found that Emily looks just like Rita’s later children. It turns out that one of Rita’s other daughter’s lives only 30 minutes from Emily. Wish of a Lifetime sent Rita over Memorial Day weekend to visit Emily in Oregon. Everyone involved was so excited for this long overdue reunion.
