DAILY INSPIRATION - TOP NEWS

After 72 Years, Mom and Daughter Reunion!

For all most all of her life, 100-year-old Minka Disbrow has felt as though a piece of her heart was missing. She could not push from her mind the question of what had happened to the beautiful baby girl she gave up for adoption as a teenager after she was a victim of rape.

Despite the painful memory of how she was conceived Minka longed to see the daughter she named Betty Jean. Minka kept a black and white photo of her baby sleeping peacefully wrapped tightly in a blanket.

At a hundred years old she believed she would never again lay eyes on her baby girl, but she was wrong. Back in 2006 a Alabama man called Minka with news she only dreamed of before.

In 1928 while picnicking with friends Minka and her best friend Elizabeth were raped by three men who they came across as they walked home.

Being children and uncertain what to do they decided to tell no one. As the months passed Minka’s body began to change. She still believed that babies were brought by the stork so she had no reason to think she was carrying a child.

Once her parents realized she was pregnant they rushed her off to a Lutheran home for pregnant girls. At 17 she gave birth. Never once did Minks want to give up her baby girl, but her parents made it clear she could not bring the baby back to the farm and she had no where else to go.

Despite the fact that she did not meet the adoptive parents and didn’t even know their names she never stopped looking for her little girl. Minka wrote countless letters to the adoption agency asking about her daughter. The agency would send her back a letter updating her n her daughter until the agency was sold and the new owners did not stay in touch.

Despite the emptiness her daughter’s absence left in her soul Minka moved on with life. She married and had two more children. Her husband was a war time pilot and Minka worked as a dressmaker, saleswoman and cafeteria manager. They moved several times bbefore settling in San Deigo.

On every May 22nd she felt great sadness as she remembered her daughters birthday.She prayed everyday that she would see her again.

On the 2nd of July the Alabama man called asking Minka who was then 94 several questions about her past. At first Minka feared the phone call was a phone scam so s began asking questions. Once Minka stopped talking the man asked her if she would like to speak to Betty Jean whose name was now Ruth Lee. Minka’s heart filled with joy.

Ruth had been raised by a pastor and his wife. She married and had six children. The Alabama man was her son a teacher. Ruth’s one son was an astronaut who had been in four space flights. Ruth had worked for Walart for well over 20 years.

Ruth Lee knew she was adopted and had a happy childhood. She did not begin her search for her biological mother until her 70th birthday when she suffered from heart disease and needed her family medical background.
Ruth’s son petitioned the courts for her adoption paper work. They eventually received Minka;s story including the tale of the rape and all of Minka’s handwritten letters.

He immediately turned to the internet to find Minka’s relatives. Knowing her adavanced age he was certain he would find that information in an obituary. He was shocked to find Disbrow in a phone directory.

As Minka spoke to her daughter on the phone for the first time her hands and legs trembled. A month later Ruth Lee and her son flew to San Diego.

When they finally met Minka could not get over how their hands were the same. They had close taste in clothing. Minka shared her photo albums with them introducing them to a family they did not know.

The instant bond between them was so strong it was as though they had never been apart.

Since their first meeting they have gotten together several times and Minka has met all of her grandchildren. Minka will board a plane in the Spring to celebrate her 100th birthday with her daughter and grandchildren.