Whereabouts Unknown

This is the place where my Spokane family first met the cousins, aunts and uncle (from Seattle) we never knew. The name of this place is quite telling...........Whereabouts Unknown.  

My mother was adopted and always yearned to find her birth parents.  She died in 1984 at the young age of 57.  She tried her best to be happy with life, but there was always that underlying feeling of "being abandoned" within her.  Consequently life was difficult for her.  Sadly, my father discouraged her from searching for her parents. 

In 2002, my sister Karen was diagnosed with breast cancer.  We had not known of any cancer in the family prior to this....so my sister Barb Noe and I decided to do a search via the internet.  We were fortunate in that we had a copy of the adoption certificate with our birth Grandmother's name on it. With the help of a group of wonderful people, we found Mom's living brother Uncle Joe.  I contacted Uncle Joe and then my sisters and I traveled to Seattle to meet him.  We were greeted warmly by this man who looked so much like our brother Doug..  He was so emotional, saying that he always wanted a sister.....and that some conversations he overheard between his parents led him to believe that he did indeed have one.  I had an Uncle Bob, as well....but he also died young.  I won't go into the reasons why my mother was adopted .....it was the only recourse my Grandmother had at the time.  God Bless her.  

We did find a cancer gene in the end, and that was a good thing..  But the best news is that cousin Paula Purcell hosted a "Union" at Whereabouts Unknown 10 years ago, where most of the cousins met each other for the first time.  It was an amazing event especially for my family..always wondering about our "other family".  Twas the perfect environment for all of us to come together.  I will never forget that Union and I will always cherish this beautiful place.

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This is a tole painting that I made for my mother in 1978 for her 54th birthday.  It was recently discovered in the attic of the house I grew up in.  It was delivered to my brother Doug via my brother-in-law Denny.  I had forgotten all about it.  I did a lot of tole painting in the '70's and gave many of them to friends and family as gifts.  What a memory this has brought back to me.

My mother became quite ill in the early 80's....so much so that Dad had to take steps to move out of the big house....and in to an apartment.  Dad eventually sold the house to our youngest sister Karen and husband Denny.  Together they raised three girls in this house.  Much of what Dad and Mom owned remained in the house.  Karen died in 2009.  Recently Denny has been in the process of moving from the homestead, in which many "relics" have been discovered.  This painting being one of them.