Hi All. Let me start by saying that if I could personally bankroll this experience, I would do it in a heartbeat. Alas, times are tough financially for many at the moment. I want my best friend to meet her newly found 92-year-old father before he dies, and she simply can't afford to make it happen.
Here is the story:
Several months ago, my best friend's brothers received DNA results from tests taken on a whim. No one was really looking for anything other than their ethnic heritage. Shockingly, those tests showed that my best friend, their sister, was only a half-relative. At first, everyone thought it was a mistake or an odd glitch. My bff then took a test and the results were the same. The man that she believed to be her father died when she was 12 and her mother passed away 10 years ago so...how to track down a family she never knew existed? She and her children all began researching potential relatives who had registered their DNA. They located a distant cousin in South Carolina and he and my friend began communicating over text and email. Fast forward to two days ago when she narrowed down the information available and based on some family photographs found on Facebook, reached out to a man to ask whether he knew her late mother. When he responded via email saying that he did and remembered her very fondly, my friend responded with the awkward inquiry of whether or not he could possibly be her father. Following 24-hours of dead silence, he responded and a phone call followed. They spoke for over an hour and both were very emotional. It seems that her mother was the love of his life. Although my bff was verrrrrry close to her mother, for some reason unknown to us, her mother chose not to reveal my bff's true paternity to her. She has now found out that she has two other half-brothers, one half-sister, a multitude of cousins, etc. One day, perhaps she will meet all of them and will be embraced by them and...perhaps not. But she DOES have the immediate opportunity to meet her father and he would love to see her. What they don't have are the funds to make their meeting a reality. At the age of 92, he appears to have his faculties fairly well intact but acknowledges that he is frail. He stated, "I have no idea why God has kept me around this whole time. I have outlived all of my friends. Maybe he kept me here to answer this email you sent."
PLEASE give any tiny bit you can so that we can try to help these two meet. It could be such a beautiful healing moment for both of them.
*She is in Austin Texas, and he is in a small town in North Carolina. I am trying to get enough for a flight for my bff & 1 grandchild, an Airbnb for 5 days, and a car rental