I was thinking about blogging about my two week escapade to New Mexico, but I realize that was spent with me mostly eating. Like, a lot. And what is so exciting about a peanut-butter and banana milk shake that I split with Kirby? (Oh, didn't realize the pun in that sentence....). Or actually finding sushi enjoyable for once? Or eating real authentic Mexican food, where the waiter actually asks "red or green"? Okay, okay, there was a little more than eating. There was my best friend Kirby studying her heart out for a Calculus exam and Padraig graciously watching movies or playing video games with me while he worked on his own online homework. It felt like bad timing, but I was happy all the same. I never realized how much I missed hanging out with those guys. I was actually at ease for once, and not anxiously trying to come up with things to talk about. And then even my week in Carlsbad.....Terry continued his ritual of showing me freaky anime and video games and Terence, a long lost friend who I thought had dropped off the face of the earth, actually agreed to see "Despicable Me" with Terry and me. For the first time in over a year, he actually spoke to me, and I could see that he still has that yearning for acting that could probably never be because of his leg. I was pleased I was able to see my friends again because it made me feel more at home than any location ever could. It revived my sense of things that were beginning to become dull while stuck in my apartment (no matter how much I love it) in Missoula.
And now for the real reason why I suddenly had the desire to post a new blog. This is opening up a huge part of family history, and for the first time, I actually feel kind of vulnerable writing this. I made an incredible discovery yesterday morning, all because I had a "whim" to do some genealogical digging. Some may or may not know that my dad had been married once before he met my mom. Between 1967-1970 when this marriage lasted, my dad had a daughter (who passed away in childbirth) and a son. Well, with all the messiness divorce brings and my dad about to start a new life with my mom, he allowed his ex-wife and new husband to have full custody of the boy. And as far as I know, no contact has been made between the two ever since. I came around in 1990, so much of this was "history," so much that I didn't find out until I was about 14. I was always a little bit curious about what happened to this lost half-brother I never met, nor had ever seen a picture of. I remember once I had a dream that I had an older brother my parents never told me about, and this was long before I ever knew I actually did have an older brother.
Every now and then when I was bored, I'd type his name into Facebook: Glenn Johnston. But of course, with Johnston being one of the most common names on the planet, hundreds of Glenn Johnstons would pop up. And I had no image in mind what he would even look like. Flash-forward yesterday Sunday morning. With nothing to do in the morning, I thought I'd do some genealogy work. I had done a little bit before on Ancestry.com (although the $12.25 a month usually deterred me from making it an actual hobby). I did a search on my dad and two marriage certificates popped up: one for my mom, and then another for this Carlis Digre. I remember seeing her name on a Johnston family tree once, and thinking, "What a different name." Okay, so now I was a little intrigued, although I was fully aware how strange it was that, without the Internet, I would find out nothing unless I called every hospital in the St. Paul, MN region. Nothing really is sacred. I did another search and found a birth and death certificate for Dawn Renee Johnston in 1967.
Whoa. I came in with little expectation of finding anything, and now I had found this. I tried again for Glenn, but still nothing came up. I knew he was sort of adopted by his step-father, so I figured he probably had a different last name now. But how the hell would I know what that is? Okay, this is where I come off as kind of stalker-ish. I can thank the crime/mystery novels I've been reading lately, especially ones about hacking into computers and digging up private information. I did a search for Carlis' marriage certificates and found the man she remarried: Voytilla. Again, shocked anything came up at all. Then a birth certificate for an Amy Voytilla. I kept searching for Glenn Voytilla, but my efforts were fruitless. I was so close, I didn't just want to give up. When I'm so close to solving a problem, I need to find a solution. I mean, this is another part of my family. A half-brother. Why should he remain a skeleton in the closet?
I turned to the #1 stalker tool on the Internet: Facebook. I ran a search for Amy Voytilla and clicked on the first name that came up. And just by chance, on the friend list on the left-hand side of the page, was a Glenn Johnston. My heart skipped a beat as I clicked on his name. Just by seeing that some of his friends had his mom's maiden name was a clear enough sign that it was him. And he even kind of looked like my dad: the blue eyes, the dark hair, the same lean face my dad had when he was younger. He was holding a little boy in the picture. It turns out he has two 5 year old sons: Brett and Matthew. Even weirder is that my brother is named Matthew. I was beyond flabbergasted; I was just about shaking. HOLY SHIT. I contemplated e-mailing him, but thought it better if I told my parents about it first. After all, it's a piece of my dad's life.
As of now, nothing has happened. I don't know whether or not he'll feel bitterness or joy if I contact him. I would just like a little bit of closure for my dad, and for Glenn too. The fact that he was indeed adopted by his step-father, and yet keeps Johnston as his last name, tells me that he might still feel something positive for the paternal side of his family.
It's all too strange, overwhelming, and joyful at the same time. I have a living half-brother, and I am also an aunt. It is indeed a small world over the Internet.
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