BY GREG PARROTT
The year was 1957. Big city life was what she’d dreamed of since she was a child. She was 18 when she moved from Talbot County to Hapeville. Her name was Barbara Ann and she set her sights on becoming a flight attendant with Delta Airlines.
While training for the flight attendant job she met a handsome young flight instructor with Delta named Tom. They found love quickly and spent a lot of time with each other.
Yesterday’s Footsteps
Several months later Tom was transferred to Miami to continue his career as a flight instructor with Delta.
They corresponded with each other weekly by mail.
Barbara Ann went to the doctor with some stomach pains. The doctor said her pains were due to being pregnant. She was devastated by the news and wrote Tom about the situation.
She never heard from Tom again.
She wrote a letter to her brother Byron in Kansas City to see if she could move there with him and his wife Carolyn. She told him of her situation and he said to get a bus ticket to Kansas City and they would take her in.
Barbara Ann arrived in Kansas City a week before Christmas and four months pregnant. They discussed what she should do with the child Barbara Ann would deliver around the first of June. They decided Byron and Carolyn would adopt and keep the child in the family.
On June 1, 1959, Barbara Ann gave birth to a baby boy at the Florence Crittenton Home for unwed mothers. She was torn about giving up the baby but knew this was the best decision for the baby. She had no help or money to raise the child. Byron and Carolyn had moved to Kansas City from Georgia looking for work in 1956. They adopted the baby boy and moved back to Georgia when the economy improved. They moved to Hapeville where Byron got a job with the Ford Motor Company and Carolyn got a job with Orkin in Atlanta. They raised the young boy as their own and most of the family never knew of this situation.
Barbara Ann got married several years later and had three children. She stayed in contact with her brother and sister-in-law on a weekly basis to see how their family was doing.
The adoption was a blessing in disguise. Byron and Carolyn found out they could not have children.
God works miracles every day and this was one that worked in everyone’s favor. Barbara Ann is a heroine of the pro-life world. She did the right thing.
I’m glad for her decision as it was me who was the product of this situation. I stand for pro-life. I’m here for a reason and God has directed a good life for me in my 52 years.
Barbara Ann passed away in September 2001. I had a good heart to heart talk with her just weeks before her death due to cancer. She wanted to make sure I wasn’t mad with her for giving me up for adoption.
“How could I be mad at you for making a sound decision at such a young age?” I asked. “You gave me the gift of life. I got to stay in the family. I got to give Byron and Carolyn grandchildren they would never have had. Mad, no. Glad, yes. We’re family, and family sticks together.”
I couldn’t have asked for a better life. I’m a fortunate man.
If you’re fortunate enough to have your mother alive, call her and tell her you love her. I have to go for now, I have a phone call to make.
They corresponded with each other weekly by mail.
Barbara Ann went to the doctor with some stomach pains. The doctor said her pains were due to being pregnant. She was devastated by the news and wrote Tom about the situation.
She never heard from Tom again.
She wrote a letter to her brother Byron in Kansas City to see if she could move there with him and his wife Carolyn. She told him of her situation and he said to get a bus ticket to Kansas City and they would take her in.
Barbara Ann arrived in Kansas City a week before Christmas and four months pregnant. They discussed what she should do with the child Barbara Ann would deliver around the first of June. They decided Byron and Carolyn would adopt and keep the child in the family.
On June 1, 1959, Barbara Ann gave birth to a baby boy at the Florence Crittenton Home for unwed mothers. She was torn about giving up the baby but knew this was the best decision for the baby. She had no help or money to raise the child. Byron and Carolyn had moved to Kansas City from Georgia looking for work in 1956. They adopted the baby boy and moved back to Georgia when the economy improved. They moved to Hapeville where Byron got a job with the Ford Motor Company and Carolyn got a job with Orkin in Atlanta. They raised the young boy as their own and most of the family never knew of this situation.
Barbara Ann got married several years later and had three children. She stayed in contact with her brother and sister-in-law on a weekly basis to see how their family was doing.
The adoption was a blessing in disguise. Byron and Carolyn found out they could not have children.
God works miracles every day and this was one that worked in everyone’s favor. Barbara Ann is a heroine of the pro-life world. She did the right thing.
I’m glad for her decision as it was me who was the product of this situation. I stand for pro-life. I’m here for a reason and God has directed a good life for me in my 52 years.
Barbara Ann passed away in September 2001. I had a good heart to heart talk with her just weeks before her death due to cancer. She wanted to make sure I wasn’t mad with her for giving me up for adoption.
“How could I be mad at you for making a sound decision at such a young age?” I asked. “You gave me the gift of life. I got to stay in the family. I got to give Byron and Carolyn grandchildren they would never have had. Mad, no. Glad, yes. We’re family, and family sticks together.”
I couldn’t have asked for a better life. I’m a fortunate man.
If you’re fortunate enough to have your mother alive, call her and tell her you love her. I have to go for now, I have a phone call to make.
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#1
Sheila Tolley
on
08/24/11 at 11:55 AM
Greg, as tears blur my eyes and chills cover my arms, I thank you for such a special and touching revelation.
#1.1
special touching causing chill bumps
on
08/24/11 at 08:17 PM
Thats Greg's specialty.
#1.1.1
Sheila Tolley
on
08/27/11 at 09:54 AM
I do not know what your comment means, but I pray it was not meant to be rude. Sometimes it helps to unbreak a heart and erase past sadness to broadcast ones feelings.
#2
chris craven
on
08/29/11 at 03:46 AM
WONDERFUL STORY !!!!!!!
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