A Father Found - Part 2

I began my search by having my mother write down anything and everything she knew about Raymond. She was able to recall his birthday and his mother's name. I then searched ancestry.com for more information about Raymond's mother. I found where his grandmother had lived in the Seattle area at one point. I searched Raymond's name and found dozens by the same living in and around Seattle, Washington. I then typed the name in ZabaSearch and was able to come up with a man by the same name that owned a small trucking company. I searched google and found his company website. I was surprised to find a cell phone number for Raymond on the site. I still was not sure that I had the right person, so I called the number and a woman answered. I simply told her that I would like to speak to Raymond and she turned me over to him. I told him that I did not know if I had the right person, but I would like to ask him a few questions. I gave him my mothers maiden name and asked if the name rang a bell. He was quite for a moment and then told me I had found the right guy. We had a short conversation and I was pleased to hear that he had tried to find my sister in the past. Unfortunately, he had no luck. I asked him for permission to have her call and he said he would love to speak with her. I called my sister and told her I need to write down a number and call it. She asked whose number it was and I told her that it was her father's and he was waiting for a call. She hung up the phone and cried for nearly an hour before getting up the courage to call. My sister and her father has since developed a father-daughter relationship. The following January, my sister flew to Seattle to meet her father face to face. She also got to meet several brother's and sister's. Today they remain very close.

A Father Found - Part 1

The year was 1971 and my mother was only 13 years old. The daughter of a Pentecostal preacher, living in Long Beach, Ca., she was very fond and a young boy named Raymond. Raymond was around the same age as my mother. Soon their relationship went beyond friends and my mother became pregnant. Upon hearing that her son got a 13 year old pregnant, Raymond's mother moved him away and forbid him to see my mother or his son. My mother soon moved back to Oklahoma and at the age of 14 married a friend of her's named Billy. My older sister was born shortly after. She was given the named of Billie and her birth certificate listed my mother's husband as the father. The next year, while visiting in California, my grandmother ran into Raymond at the local bus stop. He asked about my mother and his child and upon learning they were in California, he went to visit them. My sister was six months old and that would be the last time she would see her father for 36 years. My sister always knew of her father. She was always told pleasant things about him and made aware of the fact that it was not his choice that he was not in her life. My sister tried to find her father throughout the years, but had little luck. He had a very common name. In 1998, I did a nationwide internet search of his first and last name as well as his middle initial. The search came back with over 500 results. I did not search again until the summer of 2008. I knew that the search would be an uphill battle.

ZabaSearch

ZabaSearch is another very valuable search tool. This search engine is owned by the same company that owns ussearch.com. With the basic search, you can view nationwide results, often including birth dates, phone numbers and addresses. Think whitepages on steroids. This search is free and can be used to search by name and state. A recent search of my name returned 248 nationwide results. You can also use the advanced search option. With this option you can enter first, middle and last names as well as birth year, town and state. Zabasearch also has an option to search by phone number. The search will take you to the Intelius site. This search will not tell you whose number it is but will give you the location of the phone number as well as whether it is a cell number or land line. At this site you can click details and find out whose number it is for the low price of $4.99. This site can be valuable in locating anyone or at least finding a place to start. Try it and you will not be disappointed. You can find the link to the right of this post.