- My name's Robbie,
and I'm gonna meet my birth mother this weekend.
(acoustic guitar music)
My parents were open about the adoption my whole life.
I didn't really care,
'cause the adoptive parents were my parents,
and I didn't think any other way.
I have never met my birth mother.
My brother hadn't either,
but we're blood related, so it's the same mother.
I got the three little facts.
Her name, where she used to live, and her maiden name.
It blew my mind that, honestly,
with little tid-bits of information,
you could find someone on the internet.
(acoustic guitar music)
I'm excited to go out with my brother,
and take a journey and meet her.
It's too early!
Just landed!
This is Doug.
- I'm Doug.
- My brother.
Same birth mother.
Same adoptive family.
- I am a little nervous.
Basically, get to kinda, you know,
see a different lens of what my life could've been.
- [Robbie] What do you think of this whole journey?
- I think it's probably gonna be a shit show,
but I really hope it's not,
'cause like, you guys don't deserve that.
And listening to the conversations that you've had with her,
like, I don't know,
'cause she doesn't sound that interested
in meeting you guys.
- [Robbie] Yeah.
- Yeah.
- It's the night before we go
and meet Suzanne, my birth mother.
And feeling-wise,
I think I'm more nervous than I've ever been
about meeting someone or doing something before.
We're gonna understand where we came from,
and why we were given up,
and why we were lucky enough to
be adopted by such a great family.
But it was kinda hard to get a read on her,
the last couple of times I talked to her on the phone,
because she, she just, I don't know,
she didn't seem as excited as Doug and I were.
We'd be like, "Can't wait to see you!"
And she'd be like, "Oh, okay."
So, I guess, going into this, I'm not really sure
where her mind is at.
So, we just got off the highway,
and we're kinda in, I guess southwest Pueblo.
I guess we'll park here and walk in.
(acoustic guitar music)
Suzanne?
(acoustic guitar music)
It's nice to meet you!
- Which one are you?
- I'm Robbie.
- Doug.
- Oh, alright!
- How are you?
- Alright.
- How are you?
- Alright.
- Yeah?
Wow.
I actually got to meet you.
- Yeah!
(acoustic guitar music)
- This was me in my younger days.
That's when Chrissy was about seven or eight.
And this is Charlie when he was--
- Wow, that is,
that is uncanny!
- Here's Pat.
I don't have too many pictures of him left.
- Yeah, see you're gonna have no hair in a few years.
(laughter)
You're gonna do what I do!
(laughter)
So, this is the first time I've ever seen
a picture of our birth father.
- This is Chrissy when she was 17.
My mother was very poor,
and she had eight kids.
We ended up in a children's home,
and my mother died at 16.
- Wow.
- Then I got involved with pot,
which was a train ride through hell,
is the only answer.
When you guys came along,
you were supposed to stay with me in this family,
and I had Robbie to give you a companion.
It wasn't an accident.
Robbie wasn't an accident.
For me, you know,
I don't look at them as they're my kids,
'cause they're not.
I look at myself as a surrogate mother.
I was an instrument to get them in here,
so they could get their lessons done.
And so, we're strangers,
is what we are.
- I mean, everything we know about you,
I think we've learned in the past month.
- Yeah!
- Yeah.
- When I went to court for,
not court, but the judge's chamber for Robbie,
the judge says,
"You release all claims to these kids."
And I thought, "That was rotten!"
'Cause when we first made the deal,
it was supposed to be an open adoption,
and Bruce and Anne closed it.
- Do you know why they did that?
- Yeah, 'cause I was very unstable back in those times.
- Mm-hmm.
- And I know I was.
- Do you think it was for the best that that happened?
- Probably so!
Probably so.
- We're extremely thankful for--
- Grateful for the chance that you gave us.
The opportunity to do something with our lives.
- I'm happy to see where you're at,
because you fulfilled my deal with God.
'Cause I wanted a better education,
a better life, which Anne and Bruce gave you,
and nice jobs.
And you did.
(acoustic guitar music)
Well--
- It's great seeing you.
- Yeah, good seeing you guys.
You take care.
- Yeah, we'll definitely keep in touch.
- It was great to meet you.
- Uh-huh, great meeting you!
- I feel good about the experience.
- Good, it was a great experience.
I think the thing that sticks out the most,
was just her, her strength to be able to do this,
and to be able recognize that, you know,
she's in a very difficult situation,
and to be able to look beyond that,
and see what, you know, she thought was a way out,
that would give us a chance.
Just the strength to be able to do that
is very impressive to me.
- I wouldn't mind having her in my life.
- Yeah!
- Yeah.
- It's good to keep in touch with her,
let her know how we're doing.
- She did an amazing thing for us,
so if we can give back a little anything,
I mean, I think she more than warrants it.
- I think that we're smiling after we do this
says a lot about, you know, how this weekend went.
(smooth music)
(swoosh)
(squeaking)