Erin Hardesty's search for her birth family brought a number of surprises.
Erin Hardesty was born in Virginia and adopted by a Lima couple. In 1991 she began a search for her birth family to learn her medical history. Because the adoption files were closed, she faced a number of rejections and dead ends. In 1992, she asked Judge David Kinworthy for help. He wrote a letter to Allen County Children Services and requested that they send any information they could. "On March 27, 1992, I finally received a letter from probate court that had been sent to Judge Kinworthy from Allen County Children Services, and surprisingly, the letter contained everything: my birth mother's name, her age at the time of my birth, where she lived in 1953 and my birth grandparents' names." Much to her surprise, she found that her birth mother lived n Lima just two miles away from her house. Erin called her then went to visit. "We hugged for about 5 minutes and we were amazed at how many times over the years our paths had crossed." She says they maintained a close bond for 14 years. "We created many great memories at that time and those experiences and that relationship enriched my life." Erin discovered that she had four brothers; at one time she and her mother lived only one block apart; she babysat for her cousins whose playmates next door were her brothers; one of her co-workers at Bank One was her first cousin; and her mother worked for Erin's children's pediatrician and was unknowingly treating her own grandchild. Erin has documented her story in a book called No Little Choices and is working on a second book.
Also at Monday's meeting, we presented $1,000 scholarships to 13 non-traditional students, bringing the total number of scholarships awarded since 2001 to $921,150. And we drew fifty numbers in the Jay Begg Reverse Raffle with Mike Powell being the first big winner of $500.