April 2006

This is as it was written [but updated] in the Cortland Tribune in May 03, 2006 during a search for our brother.

Our father, Richard Norwood, was a Native American from Northern Maine who died in 1968. He suffered from alcoholism and had some serious emotional issues. Resources were few and far between back then for Native Americans, though he did try to find help. As I am beginning to understand this now, it puts him in a more "human" light in my mind and heart.
My mother is the woman he married and she had an 11 year relationship with him. She was open with me about the probability of siblings. She is now deceased. I was raised an only child and before and after my father died, I spent a great deal of time alone growing up dealing with my own struggles and desire to fit somewhere. It is only in the later years that family has become a rewarding part of my life with a husband, children, and grandchildren. Since my sisters have been added to my life, I feel greatly and additionally blessed. It has been the most awesome experience!

    My sister Terry grew up in a very similar way with paralleled circumstance, though her mother later married and they had a younger sister for Terry. But Terry was a preteen and by the time this little sister was a bit older, Terry was out of the home. So, in a way she was an only child too. Terry found stability and served 14 years in the military with her husband and has one child. She had known about me since she was in her late teens. Our grandmother had even given her a high school picture of me, but no important information that would enable her to find me. 

In 1997 I had written a short note to my father's family letting them know where I was and that I was fine, etc. A cousin then contacted Terry's mom who lived nearby. The next thing I knew, a guard from the local prison was at my door, in full uniform, explaining that he was a friend of my sister who had been trying to find me. This was an incredible thing to absorb especially since I had the flu and was spacey from cold medication. So I stood in awe as the gentleman told me all about how this woman was my sister. We gave him our phone number to pass on to my sister and later that Sunday afternoon the phone rang and I heard her voice for the first time. A week later we met in person.

This prison guard and his wife just "happened" to live in the same area as my family. My sister had visited these friends many times not knowing that I was just 20 minutes away.

 If that doesn't strike you as amazing, nothing will!

Our sister Sandra, who was added to the family about two years ago, has suffered great losses since we have known her. Her mother, adoptive father, and the half sister she grew up with all died within a year of each other a short time ago. Her adoptive father was killed by a hit and run driver when he was out for his morning walk in Florida. You can read about that by clicking on this link. Her mother died just a month later in her sleep of what is believed to have been a broken heart. Then, a year later her younger half sister Ann died of cancer. We are very glad that we came to her when we did. With such a tremendous loss, we know it was God's will for us to be at her side. It was exactly the right time to find her!

Sandra had known her biological father's name and had searched for years. She had sent a generic letter to one of our father's sisters as she did to anyone she found that had the Norwood name. Through time the letter was forgotten until a cousin was cleaning and found the letter. Once we knew about her, it took about two weeks to actually make contact. It was the beginning of December and we drove to Maine to meet her. We had driven in a snow storm all the way up there, and the storm settled in. We were snowed in in Maine with my new sister and it was fabulous!

We sisters have enjoyed a wonderful, warm friendship that feels very much like family. We have much in common, but also have vast differences that make our relationships interesting. We feel that we met at exactly the right time in life. I know that I am a different person than I was, say, 20 years ago and perhaps a better person now. I hope I am.

    Well, we just recently learned that we have a brother who was at least born in the Cortland NY area and lived there in the early 60s. He, or his family, may be living there now. We know someone living in Marathon NY that was one of our father's best friends during their school years together and on into adulthood in Maine. This man knew about me and this brother. While visiting my father's family recently, for the first time in many years, he just happened to tell them of Richard’s son . We have talked with him and he has been trying very hard to remember names, but it has been many years and it just isn‘t coming to mind for him.

We would like our brother to have the opportunity to know us. We think we would be a worthy addition to his life and maybe it is time for him to meet us. We hold a great deal of respect and admiration for these ladies [mothers] because we know that they went through a hard time. We understand and sympathize. But, the situation with our father and collective mothers was nearly 50 years ago and that was then. We are the bi-product of all this and we feel that a rose has grow amongst the ashes.

We hope and pray that we will be able to be

united with another piece of our family...