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When I was 4 years old, my name was Lamon and I
was taken
from my home along with my older sister
and my baby brother.
My other
sister was taken later.
We lived in TN. at the end of the depression and
our
birth mother had just given birth to a baby boy and he
was 13 days old
when they came and took all of us
away. Tennessee had 2 orphanages that were
in the
black market and both were run by the same woman.
But God took
something bad in my life and turned it
into something good. I had the best adopted
Mother
and Daddy that anyone could
have and they taught
us
right from
wrong. They adopted my sister a year
after they adopted me. I am a
Christian and have a
great education thanks to my adopted Mother and
Dad.
If you think this
sounds strange and untrue, go to
a store where you rent videos and get one
called
"Stolen Babies." It is a true story about the same
orphanages. The woman
is played by Mary Tyler
Moore, who does a
fantastic
job. They never got
to prosecute the lady, she died of cancer before
they
could.
A year after I was
adopted, the Wilson's were called
and
asked if they wanted my sister. I had
really missed
my sister, although I didn't remember anything much
about my
past, I only knew I had a sister. So God was
kind enough to bring us
back together again. She has
been such a blessing to me. I always knew
that she
was there for me if I needed her and she has been.
We were raised very
strict and weren't even allowed
to fuss.
That has really been a blessing,
because we
don't even now and we don't have deep emotions
hidden inside of
us, like some people do. I got saved
when I was 5 years old. I guess it
was because of
what had happened to us that made me want to be
saved. I
became a church pianist at the age of 15.
My music has really been a God
send to me, because,
when the bad things happened to me, I could go to my
piano and play and get lost in my gospel music.
In February of 1957
I met Earl H
Cleckler and married
him 6 months later. He had attended Lee College. I
really loved him and you know how you plan your
whole life ahead of you.
It wasn't to be though, for
after we had been married 2 years and eight
months,
I went to church one Sunday morning and when I
came back home
and opened the front door, there he
was on the floor dead. He had only
been dead not
more than 5 minutes when I returned. I felt so guilty
having left him alone, even if I was only going to
Church. I
had asked him
if he wanted me to stay home with him,
because he had gotten up with a
stomach ache. He
said for me to go on to church. It took me a long
time
to get over his death. I was only 23 when he passed
away.
I went back and
moved in with my adopted parents
and my life went on. We moved to Signal
Mountain,
TN. I
taught music for over 25 years not only in my
home, but commercially. I
enjoyed teaching very
much. Then due to to circumstances of the
studio
where I taught went out of business I had to change
my profession.
I became a cashier.
In 1983 one
afternoon I got a telephone call from a
social worker who told me I had a
sister who had
been searching for me for 31 years and she wanted
to know
whether I would let her give my identity and
where I lived to my sister.
How can you refuse to give
your name and address and telephone
number to
someone who had been looking for you for that long.
I said yes even though
I knew my adopted Mother
had always feared that our birth family would
somehow find us. It was her number one fear and
it was actually
happening. I called my sister Peggy
who had never forgotten her
birth family. I was so
young, when we were separated I didn't remember
anyone but Peggy. We made arrangements to meet
her in Memphis TN, where she lived. We also got to
reunite with our older brother, who
lives in Kentucky.
We didn't get to meet our younger brother till much
later. He lives in New Mexico. We all caught up with
all that had happened
to each of us. It was great.
We took our adopted Mother with us so
she would
be part of it. God had brought us full circle.
My adopted father
became ill and because of him
being a little violent at times, we had to put him in
a Rest Home.
Mother and I stayed on the mountain.
I worked, but I took her out to eat a
lot, because she
really enjoyed it. With the help of the Lord I was able
to take her 2 times to Hawaii, which she enjoyed so
much. I will never
regret doing that because she had
so many good memories. She
developed Diabetes.
I had to keep working so we could stay in the house,
but she got much worse and the Doctor said that she
needed 24 hour care.
We finally just had to place my
mother in a Nursing Home.
My sister then was
there for me, not that she hadn't
been there
before for Mother and I. But
she told me
that I could come and live with her. Peggy is the wife
of Rev Arville Hurst, who is a great
minister of
the
Gospel. They opened their home to me when I very
much needed
one.
I
play my Technics
sn-KN6500 keyboard at church,
we have a
great church band. I enjoy it so much.
I've
even got a computer and enjoy working on it very
much.
The reason I mentioned that as my mother
thought
computers were sinful. Anyone can stay
busy and keep themselves happy.
I have to say though, that my happiness
comes from
being a Christian. I don't know what I would have done
if it
hadn't been for the Lord. I would tell anyone if you
want happiness and
peace of mind, it only comes from
knowing Jesus
as your Savior and Lord.
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