Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 5, 1991 TAG: 9103050462
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MELANIE S. HATTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
But unlike adopted children who go coast-to-coast to hunt for their birth parents, Harris, it turned out, didn't have to look far.
She learned recently that Joyce Schultz, a woman she had befriended and worked beside for the past six months at a Melrose Avenue convenience store, is the mother she hardly knew.
It was by chance that Harris, who was adopted at age 2, found Schultz after starting the search for her birth mother only a year ago. And it was a quirk of circumstance that they ended up working together at the Stop In Food Store.
Harris, 22, always shopped at the store and at a friend's suggestion applied for a job there. Schultz, 44, applied after seeing an ad in the newspaper. During the six months they worked in the store, they became good friends.
About three weeks ago, Harris was talking to a co-worker about a letter Harris had written to the newspaper. The letter complained about being denied the right to get information about her birth parents from the courts.
Schultz, who started work at the store only a week after Harris, overheard the conversation and asked Harris about it. When Harris brought out her birth certificate, Schultz knew immediately she was her daughter.
But Schultz was afraid to say anything, fearing she might be mistaken. She asked Harris for a baby picture to be sure.
Schultz had been looking for her daughter and two sons for almost 20 years. They had been taken from her by Social Services, which had said she was an unfit mother. Schultz preferred not to go into specifics about that time in her life.
The picture of the little girl matched the pictures Schultz had of her own daughter.
Schultz still didn't say anything for days, explaining, "I was frightened she might not like me."
Harris said she was "way over resentment," however, and just wanted to find her birth parents.
"Besides, she's got a heart of gold, and I already knew that," Harris said.
Harris, who is married and has a daughter, said her adoptive parents were open about the adoption, and they supported her decision to find her birth parents. She said she was 16 when she first thought about starting the search, but waited until she felt she was old enough to cope with what she might find.
Harris said that when Schultz kept her baby picture for three days, "In the back of my mind, I knew something was going to happen."
The store manager, Ron Lynch, said he had a hunch the two were mother and daughter, "but they were both kind of shy. I was trying to figure out a way to get them together."
While Harris was in Lynch's office talking about the situation, Schultz entered and asked to speak to Lynch alone. Harris waited outside until Lynch called her back in. Lying on the table were Harris' photograph and Schultz's two pictures of Harris as a child.
"Are you my mother?" Harris asked.
When Schultz said yes, "I just fell into her arms. It felt so natural," Harris said. "We held on for the longest time."
Schultz not only found her daughter but gained a son-in-law and a granddaughter.
"I felt like a kid again with a new toy," Schultz said.
Schultz, who has remarried since divorcing Harris' father, and Harris have lived in Northwest Roanoke only two streets away from each other for the past two years.
Harris also said she has been reunited with her birth father in the the Roanoke area, but she did not want to go into details about that.
"I'm thrilled to death to have both my Mom and Daddy before they died," she said.
Harris and Schultz now say they hope to find the rest of their family. Harris figures they'll have to go to court to find her brothers, Timmy and Terry, but says she'll go forward.
"I didn't think I'd get this far. I'm going to go for it."
by CNB