Adopted War Babe ...continued - Part 3

So, I waited for my husband to come home.  I was really nervous.  Once he was home I told him what was going on and after dinner we sat down with the phone in my hand.  I dialed the number I was given.  After a couple of rings and woman answered. "Hello?".  She had a German accent I could tell immediately.
"Hi, my name is Pam Berry," I stammered. "I wonder if I can ask you a few questions?"  She was silent. "Does February 27, 1954 mean anything to you?" I asked.  She was quiet for a moment and then said, in very broken English, "How did you get this number?".  She seemed not only surprised but a bit upset. "I was trying to find out who my birth parents were because I was adopted," I said.  I am working with some people from the Alma society and they helped me to locate information that could be my birth family.  I was born in Goeppingen, Germany in a catholic hospital to a German woman named Elisabeth Schulz.  “Does any of that sound familiar to you?
     Well, she was quiet. “Look,” I said, “Let’s hang up and let this sink in. Maybe I will call back in n a couple of days. Would that be ok with you?”
“Ok, that would be fine,” she said. “You know, they never let me see the baby. I asked a nurse, and she said that she had blond hair and blue eyes.”
“That’s me!” I said.
     A few weeks later, I called again.  I don’t recall the exact conversation, but I was even more nervous and excited as I had been before.   It was 1991, and because we had found her by her husband’s obituary, I knew that her husband had just passed the year before. She answered right away, as we had set a day and time that I would call back.  Here is what I remember from what was said:
          She told me about being a house frau and even told me the name of the family.(I wrote it down but have lost the name, boo me!)  She told me that my birth father had been an American solider whom she had dated about six months and that he was tall, dark and handsome. She said she didn’t remember his name (yeah right!) You see, she continued, the Army threw dances every weekend so that the GIs and the German girls could dance and have fun together. She paused during our conversation and then in a few sentences that I DO remember she continued. (Again, in that thick German accent)  “I remember standing behind the door!” She said quietly. “We were behind the door at the dance, I told him that I was pregnant. He took out his wallet and tried to hand me money to have it taken care of. I said no.  I never saw him again.”
“Thank you!”  I said.

Adoption "War Babe" story continued...part 2

I quickly tried to find someone who could translate my German reply letter to English.  No one seemed to know.  I am not sure I remember correctly, but I believe I talked again to the woman who was helping me with finding my bio mom and she suggested the German consulate.  At any rate, I was able to get the letter translated and found out that she had gotten married and "disappeared" into Fort Meade, Maryland.
Going back to the adoption help people at ALMA, they suggested that I write back to the hall of records there in Germany and ask if I could have a copy of the marriage license for her.  I again wrote my letter and sent it off.  I really didn't think that I would get a copy of the marriage license so I guess I put it out of my mind for the time being.  Much to my surprise, a few weeks later, there it was!  A legitimate copy of my birth mom's marriage license!  I was very surprised and pleased to say the least!  Here is the actual copy I received, with a stamp of authenticity none the less!

I called the adoption help number again, and gave her the information.  My birth mom had married an American serviceman named Russell.  They were married in the summer of 1961. (7 years after I was born). The license also had their birth dates listed which was helpful. Once again, to my surprise, I received a return call only a day or two later and she said she had located where my birth mother lived and her phone number!  How did she do this so quickly?  Unfortunately, she had used the first place that searchers always look, and a place that is the easiest to gain information from, an obituary.
The obituary was NOT my birth mom's however, it was her husband, Russell.  He had just passed away the year before in 1990. Although sad, this did indicate that my birth mom (who was 25 when she had me) was still alive. This really would have been the only way to find her as she always went by her husband's name.  She never had a driver’s license, or anything in her name.  This was the way of Europeans of that time when she grew up, and the reason we were unable to find her listed in just her name.
The woman I was working with now gave me the address, in  Illinois and a phone number. She proceeded to school me in what I should say when I called her.  I was shaking and so nervous the rest of the day, but I wanted to wait for my husband to come home from work to call.  I was afraid that if I called before he got home I just might melt down into a puddle of nerves!