$2.95

 One Sunday morning at the end of June right before the 4th of July, I woke up super early with a determination so strong that I could not go back to sleep. I searched for Darcelle's great aunt on google, and I found her obituary.  In order to view the full obituary and guestbook, I had to pay $2.95 for 24 hours of access. I only needed about 30 minutes. In that half hour I studied this woman's beautiful and jovial face. I was searching for a sense of biological connection. What was so wild was that she attended a church called Silver Mount Baptist Church where she was a faithful member of the choir for umpteen (or even a few centennials) years. When I was a child, my adoptive mother took me to their mass choir's anniversary/concert every year. I sat right there listening to my relative sing. It was such a weird feeling to know that I'd been around my biological relatives on several occasions, and I didn't even know it. A brief sensation of loss brushed up against my heart. I went on to view the guest book. It was signed twice by a woman that seemed to be her daughter, and yet her words read like a granddaughter raised by her grandmother. It was heartbreaking to read of her loss. Her grieving mingled with mine had me sitting in the middle of my bed holding my bank card in one hand, and a pen and paper in the other while I cried silent tears. After 30 minutes I found myself afraid to close the obituary. Afraid to let go, and lose all the information...forever. I was holding on to every little bit that I obtained. It took just a little faith to close down that website and trust that there would be more. But, before I let go, I discovered the son's name. Leroy. They were definitely the people that Darcelle had talked about. I then turned to my trusted friend, Facebook, for more information. I messaged Leroy and his daughter. About two days later, his daughter responded...
 At first glance, she said that she thought that I was someone who was trying to sell her something. (Immediately I thought "I have got to change the cheesiness of my opening sentence.".) But then, something told her to open the message and read it. Through empathy and compassion she was able to see that my message was real, and that I was asking for her help. She instantly welcomed me to the family. She sent me her phone number, and we connected on the morning of the 4th of July. Everything in me was going off like fireworks. I knew that I was close. It was like circling the perimeter of this major thing. She assured me that she would be seeing her father, LeRoy, and that she would talk to him about me. She also said that she would speak to another family member that was quite knowledgeable with the family tree. I was so excited and so nervous. Impatience started tapping me on the shoulder. I wanted the answers last year! We hung up, and I waited...