The Story:
Since connecting with my sister and second cousin via social media, I’ve been able to unite with a few more biological family members. I’ve had great uncles, aunts, great aunts, and cousins all find me by using these services. The majority of these new connections are made up of my family members that currently live throughout the U.K. and Ireland. The remaining few are those that are living here in the U.S.
Initially, my sister Amy and cousin Jim spread the word, and that’s how it all began. Everyone who got a hold of me was very welcoming, and they all seemed quite enthused by the news of my existence. I have only begun to scratch the surface with regards to uniting with my biological family.
I’m not just connected to my biological family, though. My adoptive sisters and brother are all using social media, as well. I get to see my nephews and niece grow up even when I can’t be there in person. At some point, I’d like to be able to connect with every family member possible. That will help me to better connect my adoptive family to my biological family.
Since I can’t always call everyone just to explain all of those little mundane things going on in my life, connecting with them through social media allows me to easily provide all necessary updates. Plus, my biological family and I have missed out on twenty-eight years worth of life. So, social media provides us all with the ability to play catch-up.
The Emotions:
Currently, I’m connected to fourteen biological family members via social media. All have provided me with valuable insight into my familial origins. The opportunity to connect with so many of them in such a short period of time has been quite fulfilling. I can’t get over the fact that everyone has been so welcoming. It seems that we all have very happy-go-lucky personalities, and I’m confident that we will all get along swimmingly once we finally meet.
Social media has been a valuable tool by helping me connect with my large family. I feel indebted to the social media movement for providing me with such valuable resources. Being able to talk with my family in a real-time capacity has given me details about their lives that I wouldn’t have known without meeting them in person. I know that I’m blessed for having such opportunities.
Perhaps, one day, I’ll have a chance to go beyond social media and finally meet the remainder of my biological family. Preferably, I would be able to take along my adoptive family. The idea of bringing together both sides is quite exciting. I would love nothing more than to have a huge integrated family that spans multiple continents. One day, we might rule the entire world!
The Advice:
Obviously, using social media to connect with my biological and adoptive families has been very useful. I would advise anyone who has already found their biological family, or those who are still searching, to use these sites to your advantage. Granted, I did not initially find my biological aunt via the web, but I imagine that a feat such as that could be accomplished with even a small amount of information. All it takes is one person who can then connect you to someone else, and so on. Social media sites are chalk full of their users’ personal information. Using your (legal) access to that information would be highly advantageous.
- Andrew
