Many have been searching nearly their entire lives for their long lost family members. This is why I volunteer my time and resources to help make those reunions possible as an adoption reunion search angel.

Below are a few of the letters I have received that contain the joy a successful reunion brings those searching.

I am another grateful adoptee that you helped connect with my birth mother. Margaret is a wonderful addition to my family's life! The best part for her was instantly becoming a grandmother to my 4 and now 5 children. The best part for me is the two brothers and sister I never knew I had. You should write a book someday, I would be happy to provide a chapter. I think you could call it "An Angels Work" because that is what you do and who you are!
Judy, what you did in so little time is something I have spent a lifetime waiting for. You have single handedly just changed my life forever in a way I could never repay you for. I wish I knew who you were. I wish I could at some point before I die impact somebody the way you just impacted me. No words could ever express the gratitude I hold in my heart for you and anything you ever need or want that I could possibly give to you I will do anything it takes to do that.

I found out for sure a couple of weeks ago that I have a brother and 2 sisters. I found out their first names along with that of my mother. Today I started to reach out to try to find them, not knowing if I ever would. Within an hour you contacted me and an hour after that you gave me the most beautiful gift I have ever received. My family. I've never had one before.

I am beyond speechless. I am shaking and crying and smiling and laughing and this is so surreal I still cannot believe what just happened on a seemingly ordinary day. This is all because of you and I only wish I knew you or will some day have an opportunity to meet you and thank you in person. In taking your time to find me you have begun to undo forty years of wondering. Of pain, loss, fear, anger and so many other emotions. I dont think I will tell my parents. They are getting older and I really don't think they'd approve. Some things really are better left alone. Please write back and tell me a fee I can pay or a favor I can return or a lifetime of servitude I can offer to you. You truly are an angel. You deserve more than words or anything money could buy . I would love to know you because you are one of those amazing people that just makes this world a better place to be. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!
Judy, in January 2002, you helped us find our Daughter. Her father and I are back together after 40 years and we finally had a chance to meet her and her husband last August 2003. It was the most fantastic and emotionally can't believe it thing that has happened to us. She is so beautiful and such a wonderful person. I am so proud of her and what she has done with her life. We are currently rebuilding our home in Arizona as we had a fire last April. We met her on our vacation when we came through Reno Nevada. She and her husband will be coming down here to Arizona when the house is finished.

We can never thank you enough for what you did for us. Please keep helping people as long as you can. It really makes a difference. You are an angel !!!!!!!!!! Thank you again.
Judy: This is ridiculous--I have no idea who you are, but I think you've managed to find, in 24 hours, what I've stumbled around trying to find for the past few years!!! You're a positive genius! How the heck do you do that?
Hi Judy,

Well I took the information you had found and I discussed it with my wife, we thought about it, we prayed about it and we decided to go forward.

I have to admit although my wife was excited I had misgivings, I didn't know what to say, I didn't know what to expect and I almost could not bring myself to pick up that phone.

But I did.

And it was the scariest thing I have ever done in my life, I was shaking so bad when the phone started ringing I almost panicked, and no answer.

So I tried the next one, answer on the first ring, I almost died. I said hello and started to ask something about geneology and the woman on the other end said "are you my little brother?"

Judy they have been looking for me for 18 years and you found them for me in less than a week, we had a reunion in Nevada, it was so right, you are an Angel and from me and my new found family Thank You! from the bottom of our hearts, and if there is ever anything, anything you ever need do not hesitate to ask, I will be beholding to you for the rest of my life and I will never forget you, may God bless you and help you in continued searches, thanks to you ours is now over,

Our love to you.
Judy, I wish I could donate more at this time but perhaps in the near future. Your help in finding my Uncle has made a very big impact on his life and my mom's. They visit about once a month and were so happy both are still around to find each other (79 and 82 years old). It has meant the world to them and the rest of the family is elated. Your help touched the lives of so many and the outcome could not have been better. We are forever grateful. I wish the best in all your searches. Thank you so much from all of us.
Rita
God Bless you Judy. We thank you more than we can ever express. Will write more later when we obtain more information. The world is a better place because of special people like you. My husband will write you later. He is so happy to know that his mother loved him enough to name him. He is so glad to know his birth name. He is a little overwhelmed right now. You have made his day and answered a 49 year old question he has always had. It is so hard to believe you found it.THANK YOU AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!LOTS OF LOVE!!!!!
We have not met, at least in body, but perhaps in the spirit of celebration! You helped my sister locate her family, of which I am a member. I am her older sister by 7 years. My life has been so different since meeting Catherine and that occasion in itself was a beautiful memory I shall always cherish.

We continue to develop our 'sisterhood', our friendship, our lives if you will, as we get to know each other, our differences and similarities, our histories, our philosophies, etc. It is like having a Christmas gift to open each day knowing she is finally in my life.

So from the bottom of my heart, may I say thank you for being a vital resource to her in the process of finding her family and helping to bring us together. You are definitely an "angel."
Noticing by the time of your e-mails you don't sleep and you work extremely fast. I am eternally grateful for both. You obviously have a passion for what you do. Thank you so much. Once again you have proven that it is possible to make a grown man shed a tear. If I ever get to California, I'm buying you dinner!!!
I know you are a witness to this all the time but HOLY COW! Words cannot explain it. To think it was so obvious yet I sat on my motivation these many years.

I just sent a paypal donation for your help. I've been to AZ to meet my sister and mother and they are headed to Portland for a visit in August.

Everyone we tell the story to seems to think it's an Oprah moment. I'm not a TV watcher but I must say it has been one great ride since you connected us.

Thanks so much for bringing joy and laughter and tears of happiness to two, now joined, families.

Cheers!
Jim R.
Dear Judy, my life has been a whirlwind for a month now since you found my sister for me. I want you to know how much it means to me to have my sister in my life. I can never tell you thank you enough. This has been quite the experience. We take that risk to find our families. It is much better knowing than not knowing, whatever the outcome. I am so glad to have found wonderful people like you to help me. I will appreciate your help forever. Thank you again.
Judy, I want to thank you for all you have done for me. I found my mom today with the information you gave me. She is great! I feel like I've already known her. You don't know what you have done for me. I finally have a face with the mom I've loved all my life. I met my brother today and my father and my sister are going to call. This is the best day of my life. There is no end to how much I can thank you. My dad cried when he spoke to me and said he prayed for this day. He would like us to get together as soon as possible. I'm going to do the best to make that happen. My mom will be out here in 2 weeks. Nothing is going to stop me from that reunion.
I can't even find the words to thank you. I've been on the phone with my birth mother and two sisters throughout the day and everyone is so excited. I can't believe how much we are all alike. I hope to someday meet you and thank you in person. You are truly an angel. I even submitted your name to the Oprah Winfrey "angels network" site. You deserve any recognition you could get. Thanks again. You have changed my life forever.
Oh my God! You did it . There are still angels on earth. How do you ever repay someone who offers help where there was none. Whoever you are, thank you from the bottom of our hearts. WOW this may be the best surprise ever. God sent you to bring light into darkness and peace inside of her soul. Thank you again. We will stay in contact with you. Love and blessings to you and yours.
Hi Judy, just wanted to update you on my reunion. I went to san diego 2 weeks ago to meet her, and it was just wonderful. We get along great , it's like we were never apart, we just clicked instantly. Shes coming to see me in oct and to meet the rest of the family and her and her boyfriend are talking about moving here to colorado springs. I know I've thanked you before but I just have to thank you again, what you do is such a treasure to so many people and I'm sure you get so many rewards from this, but I also know it is a very hard and time consuming job and I can't thank you enough. You've changed the course of our life and have sent us on a remarkable journey. Thank you!
Just wanted to thank you again. Our life has been truly blessed. Rossi and I talk every night on instant messenger. We call Tom and Rossi every Sat. and talk for hours. It's amazing how many things we have in common. From the types of cars we drive, favorite foods, and we've even called each other and been eating the same meal. It's almost scary. Absolutely wonderful! I hope hearing this for you is as rewarding as having you come into our lives has been rewarding to us. Thank you for completing our lives and making four people extremely happy.
Dear Judy,

You may remember me - Last January to helped locate the birth family for my husband Greg. You found that his parents married and that his father was deceased. Well... since then, we continued to research and found his mother, remarried in New York. He had a wonderful reunion with her in NY and she came here to Denver to meet me and our children. After that, she flew to SF to tell her family about Greg.

Turns out, he has a full-blooded brother, an adopted sister and several relatives in SF including an aunt, uncle and many cousins. He just returned from a one week visit meeting them all, and they have embraced him like the long, lost family member that he is. They could not be more thrilled to have him and want to take us all back to Italy to see where they came from (they have been phoning relatives in Italy about Greg!). He and his brother (who has two small kids like us) are bonding nicely and can't wait to get together again.

His adopted family is all fine with this too.

So bottom line is, you really are an angel and while everyone around here keeps thanking ME over and over again, I want to rightfully thank YOU for being our Search Angel and to let you know how you helped orchestrate this very happy story ending.

Everyone is delighted thanks to you!

With love.
In May 2003 you contacted me with the information that you had a positive ID on my birthmother. Well, I would like to give you a follow up report.

On July 20th I met my birthmother, Donna. Also in that visit I was able to meet a half sister and my step father. I have always wondered who I looked like and now I know. I look just like my mother. Since May I have been online chatting with Donna and Kenna (my sister). We had come to know each other and found out that we have alot in common. I want people to know that reunions really do happen. My birth mother has been looking for me for 25 years. Her husband and 2 of her daughters were so excited that they found me. I was very nervous when we met but so happy. Donna is a wonderful person and I am so fortunate to be getting a second chance on having a mother in my life. Both of my adoptive parents have passed away and now I have a mother, step dad and half sisters. I have also an older sister who I am currently writing to and an older half brother who doesn't know that I have been found. I will someday search for my birthfather. I am going to send you a picture of Donna and myself. Things happened when she was younger and she was afraid that I would reject her. As I told her how could I reject someone whom I had never known. We are planning more visits and I hope to get to know the rest of my family soon.

I want again to thank you so much for going the extra mile to bring us together. I hope that everyone could have as happy of a reunion as we had. Thank you again Judy.
Dear Judy:
There are no words to thank you enough for helping our son to find us. There was never a day--hardly an hour that went by that I didn't think about him and worry about him. I feel such joy and relief combined.

When you helped Mark find us, he immediately wrote us a letter. When we received it, it happened that he was in Palm Springs at a convention, so we were able to meet him. In fact, it was less than a week from the time that you gave him the information until we met him. I felt instant recognition the moment I saw him. He looks a little like my family, and a little like Jack's family.

Then Mark and his wife came to visit us several weeks later, and then again just recently. We've been emailing and calling regularly. It is so wonderful! And now they are pregnant, expecting a baby girl in April.

I thought you might like to know what happened to Jack and me. We did marry, but after many years, and another marriage for each of us. We are very happy, especially now. Jack has two other children from his previous marriage, but Mark was it for me.

We are so grateful to you. This is truly a wonderful thing.
Tonight, I made the phone call of a lifetime. I gave Tamara the info on the amended birth certificate (mother's maiden, adoptive dad). Right away, she said, "That's me. I wondered if it would ever happen." She's thrilled, but I don't think either of us believe it's true yet. I put together some photos tonight to send to her. She lives out in the boonies in Chesire, Oregon where they can't get email. I've been sitting here for the last few hours in a stupor trying to convince myself this is really happening. The tears have been flowing. There are so many years to catch up on. I phoned my sister and she can't quite believe it either. Tamara will be phoning her tomorrow. She got home late and was making dinner for her 5 children and husband when I phoned. "Is my mother still alive?" Tamara asked. I guess she'd given up on ever seeing her mother. Her adoptive mother died when she was age 18.

I know you understand how earthshaking this is. It's been 48 years since my sister last held her baby at the Children's Home Society, the day my mother forced her to sign the papers to relinquish her baby. They were so wrong back in the sixties, thinking that pregnant teens would go on with their lives and forget about their babies. It's haunted my sister--first being shamed as a pregnant teen and then the guilt at having given up her baby. Now, she can begin to heal, and it's none too soon. She's getting older, more frail, using oxygen some of the time but still able to get to her job everyday. I so wanted to find her daughter, a gift to her, the best Xmas ever.

I was very fortunate to find you and appreciate all you've done. There would have been no way to get that information without your help. I can never thank you enough. Diana
Dear Judy,
I wanted you to know that I called Marilyn last night (if she hasn't already let you know). I will never forget the gasp on the other end of the phone when I told her who I was. I thought about writing, and Marilyn was expecting e-mail, as well, but the wait for a response would have been unbearable. We spent about 2 hours on the phone trying to get in a lifetime. This is still so surreal. She told me that she'd been looking for me since I was 22, I will be 45 this year; 23 years and in a matter of days you found me for her. I still can't believe that I had all of her information from the search I did 12 years ago, but everything happens for a reason.

I'm not sure how long she has lived in Washington, it never occurred to me to ask, but at one point I lived in Washington, too. Not too far removed from where she's at. While in Washington my marriage was falling apart. The reason I go into this is, if I had found Marilyn back then my life might be totally different now. I might have gone to Marilyn after my marriage disintegrated instead of going to Colorado where I met and married the most wonderful man. I am now emotionally stable enough to handle everything that's gone on in the last few days. Twelve years ago I don't believe that I was. I certainly didn't have the emotional support then that I do now.

I think the thing that touched me most in everything that we talked about was that Marilyn used to hold her own private birthday parties for me every year on my birthday. Just thinking about it makes the tears well up. I never felt that my birthdays were very special, it was always kind of just another day. Now I know different..

I just wanted to thank you again. Even though it seems you are in the habit of changing people's lives, I have to believe you must get a special thrill out of putting families together like this, otherwise you wouldn't continue to do so. Keep it up, it is so very worth it.

A lifetime of thanks,
Robbie
Hi Judy, I have made contact with her and everything is very good. I believe I have wittnessed a miracle. First of all I want to thank you with all of my heart and I praise the Lord for you and what you have made possible for my family, I speak blessing for you and your family and pray that the Lord brings you thru whatever you may be going thru and that he gives you peace that is beyond understanding. You are truly an Angel Judy. I cannot repay you money for what you have done for me spiritually and you will forever be in my prayers. I did a small search and found her brothers phone number and called him first and asked if he had a sister and then if she was aware that she had been adopted. Then another miracle happened. She was aware so we used her brother as the third party. This has been such a surreal experience for me and my family. My mom is leaving tomorrow going to Nevada to meet her daughter in person and see her new grandchildren for the first time : )

My brother is going to make a donation to your wonderful registry. We are forever grateful......Thank you so much Judy and God bless you
Althea
Hi Judy, I wrote Robert a letter and he is MY BROTHER!!! I am so excited that you got back in touch with me. You have made this the best Friday the 13th ever in my life! We talked on the phone and he is awesome. We are now sending photos back and forth and will get to know more about each other every day. Thank you so much again for not giving up on me. You are definitely an Angel. I owe you the world and will find a way to pay you for this. God Bless You!
Thank You sooo very much. You have touched our lives in so many ways. My brother was so happy to know his family's name and some of his roots. Although, my brothers birth mom is deceased he was wondering if you could find his birth dad Mr Lewis. Also I will be sending you a donation. The information you have given my family is priceless. Thank you.
I wanted to inform you that I have found the baby boy I placed for adoption 26 years ago. We are making great family memories and catching up on 26 years. I have never been happier and I have my heart back in one piece now... there is no more void and no more worries.
Hi Judy! :)
Wow....I was shocked to see this email from you. I have tried for 20 years just to find my birth mom and say a very big "THANKS" and tell her I have a wonderful life and appreciate her sacrifice. On a whim while almost rolling my eyes to enter information onto findmyfamily.org here I get an email from you. wow! Thanks Judy! :) I can't tell you over the years how I've been trying to find information.

Gosh Judy....I can't thank you enough! When I saw your email last night I stayed up with my mind racing as I was trying to go to sleep and thought, "Is this for real? I'm shocked. How can this be after so many years of searching on my own? Is this a gift from God? She IS an angel in my life..who is she?" Anyway, thanks Judy!
Hi Judy,

On Sept 2, 2009 you had given us the information we had been looking for. Since that time, my daughter(birth), and my family have been communicating by phone & chat rooms. We seem to have bonded already. My family has been wonderful, along with hers. They are excited for her too. We are planning our first visit in January. I wanted to thank you again for all your help. Isn't the computer a miracle.

Thank You Again

Debbie
Judy you are wonderful. I registered on your website yesterday and got an email from you this morning with information about my lineage that I wasn't able to find on my own. Thank you Judy! you are helping me and my family immensely.
Dante
I wanted to thank you for the information you provided me. I was searching for my daughter, born in Oakland, Ca. We have been chatting online and by phone since my first call. She is flying out next week to meet myself and my family. We both had identifing information that made this a positive match. Again...thank so much. I will let you know how things go.
-Debbie
I just want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for helping find David. We are very grateful for all you have done. I called his parents home last Sunday and he was actually there visiting so I talked with all of them. It was a really moving experience. David and his mother were very warm and receptive to the call. I would like to have an address to donate to your organization. If you could please send me an address to send a check, I would appreciate it. You are a wonderful person for doing this and we so appreciate it.
Thank you so much!
Michele
hi judy. i just wanted you to know again that i am thankful for what you did. at this time my father passed away on easter morning. but he was told about my brother. and was very happy of the news.. also my brothers mother marie has been in the hospital 3 times since we first talked. so this was a very big blessing that almost did not happen. thank you for allowing me to get to know my brother.
always greatful to you! pearl
Judy! David and I are absolutely overwhelmed with your news headline FOUND YOUR DAUGHTER just one month before her 45th birthday. I'm generally not at a loss for words: today is such an exception. After reading your e-mail, we talked and shared family photos and no longer wonder if she has her Daddy's curly hair, blue eyes, green eyes, but the beauty is Mary's smile and the joy in her eyes. I'm rambling. Ironically, my sister and I have friends in Seaside and the Monterey area. Janice and I were in Seaside yesterday and need to go back today. Please, have no fear, David and I will only go to Mary if she so desires. We are truly Blessed. David and June
Hi Judy

You have been working with my friend on locating my birth mother and her information and were successful in your results for my case.

I want to say thank you for your efforts. So many wonderful things to say about you and I want you to know how much I appreciate your efforts and what a great thing it is you do for those in my circumstance.

I've alway trusted God had me where He wanted me but felt there was more for me to know.

Heartfelt gratitude for helping put the pieces of the puzzle together.

Sincerely,
Nancy
Hi, Judy, just wanted to tell you that my daughter did call me on Dec 23rd and we talked for over two hours. It was such a blessing to hear her voice and to get to know her, and to know that God did answer all of my prayers throughout all of these years. We made arrangements for me to call her on Christmas Day so that she could talk with her two brothers, and it went wonderful. We've agreed to skype soon also. She's sent me a picture of her family on Christmas Eve and also today a New Years picture and a note.

Judy, thank you again for all of your efforts it healed a part of my heart that was always hurting, now it doesn't hurt anymore. And I'm so thankful that I'm able to have a relationship with her.

May God bless abundantly.

Dianne
I just wanted to tell you that you got a BIG fan! out there. My wife is Piper and you've been working with her to find her "answers" I think it is awesome that there are people like you around and I needed to tell you that. She's my world, keeps me in check and has a heart of gold. Thank you again for doing what you do. Hope you have a great day....peace, Scotty