After a lot of contemplating, I have decided that I want to abandon this blog. I don't do it enough to really keep up. So I totally re-did a new blog that will live in a new location!!! I would like to have all of you follow it, so please change where you index my link from so you can stay up to date!
My new blog promises to myself is to be more current with content. Also, I am wanting to grow more followers and really write content that matters. Thus, I will be blogging about more things than just my life. I think you will like it! Here is my new link:
Austin J. Miller
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Family Update
It has been quite some time, as usual, since my last post. As there was great depth and a lot of good news with my last post, I figured I better update my blog.
Over the course of the past few months I have been able to develop a relationship with my brother and two sisters that I have recently discovered in the world. In fact, I had the once in a life time experience just over a month ago to meet my sister and brother who reside in Utah. This single event deserves some individual attention.
Following our initial conversations, we decided to arrange a time to meet. Getting up to Utah county for me is a challenge as I have a complex schedule. However, this was a milestone event and I made the effort to set a couple of days aside. I went up to American Fork toward the end of March and got the opportunity to visit my usual family and friends.
On my last evening in Utah County, I made arrangements to meet my 22 year old brother Shane and my 29 year old sister Shelly at Goodwood BBQ restaurant. Unless you have have had the rare opportunity to meet your siblings later in life, no body would understand the intense emotional roller coaster it can be. You experience and wonder many different things in your mind. What are they like? Are they at all similar to me? Will the accept me? These thoughts plagued me for hours on this special day!
The time and come and my brother and sister came into the lobby of the restaurant and for the first time in 26 years I was able to shake their hands and come to a realization of 50% of the blood that runs through my veins! The feelings and anticipation of new beginnings was nothing short of exhilarating.
Following introductions we were able to enjoy a pleasant evening getting to know each other and hearing each others story on how all of this came about. I came to really appreciate my brother for the kind generous soul that he is. I learned what kind of a dedicated mother my sister is to 2 small kids whom I long to meet in the immediate future.
This night changed my life forever. This night put to rest a longing need that I had my whole life. It had been the strength I needed at that time in my life and infused new energy into me on being a better person. In essence, my family had expanded and I had new people to get to know, love, and cherish. I just happened to be blessed enough for them to be like minded individuals who would allow me into their lives. I recognize this is not at time the case with some. My heart longs for those precious souls. My experience sparked a new interest in me to help others in my circumstance to come into contact with distanced family members. I thank the Lord that he has given this sweet blessing to me!
Over the course of the past few months I have been able to develop a relationship with my brother and two sisters that I have recently discovered in the world. In fact, I had the once in a life time experience just over a month ago to meet my sister and brother who reside in Utah. This single event deserves some individual attention.
Following our initial conversations, we decided to arrange a time to meet. Getting up to Utah county for me is a challenge as I have a complex schedule. However, this was a milestone event and I made the effort to set a couple of days aside. I went up to American Fork toward the end of March and got the opportunity to visit my usual family and friends.
On my last evening in Utah County, I made arrangements to meet my 22 year old brother Shane and my 29 year old sister Shelly at Goodwood BBQ restaurant. Unless you have have had the rare opportunity to meet your siblings later in life, no body would understand the intense emotional roller coaster it can be. You experience and wonder many different things in your mind. What are they like? Are they at all similar to me? Will the accept me? These thoughts plagued me for hours on this special day!
The time and come and my brother and sister came into the lobby of the restaurant and for the first time in 26 years I was able to shake their hands and come to a realization of 50% of the blood that runs through my veins! The feelings and anticipation of new beginnings was nothing short of exhilarating.
Following introductions we were able to enjoy a pleasant evening getting to know each other and hearing each others story on how all of this came about. I came to really appreciate my brother for the kind generous soul that he is. I learned what kind of a dedicated mother my sister is to 2 small kids whom I long to meet in the immediate future.
This night changed my life forever. This night put to rest a longing need that I had my whole life. It had been the strength I needed at that time in my life and infused new energy into me on being a better person. In essence, my family had expanded and I had new people to get to know, love, and cherish. I just happened to be blessed enough for them to be like minded individuals who would allow me into their lives. I recognize this is not at time the case with some. My heart longs for those precious souls. My experience sparked a new interest in me to help others in my circumstance to come into contact with distanced family members. I thank the Lord that he has given this sweet blessing to me!
Friday, February 15, 2013
A Family Milestone
Today was literally one of the most significant milestones of my life. It takes a little bit of back-story to understand it. There is a lot of you who may not know, but I do not know my biological father. Back in the 80's my mother was living a wild life and had came into contact with a guy from Spanish Fork. As a result of this little relationship, I had the opportunity of coming into this world! The problem was that this gentleman had a family when all of this took place. He was married and had some children already. My mother elected to not let him know that she was pregnant, as she did not want to further impact that family's life.
Years had passed and I grew up with the family I know. I had a stepfather in my life who pretty much became my father. The curiosity of knowing my "other half" had always been there. My family made some effort to encouragement to just, "not worry about that family, they aren't really your family". The desire to seek my father and siblings out grew intensely since last September when I lost my mother. My mom was one of the only people in my life that really knew just how interested I was to one day meet my biological father.
This week a serious of events would transpire that would contribute to a significant milestone in my life. Early last weekend I was using Facebook's new search tool and had a fleeting thought that I should look up my father's name. Ultimately, I could not locate my father, but I found a lady who shared his name. I messaged her after much courage and asked if she knew him. Within a few hours she responded and told me yes. This kind of shocked me and I didn't respond back as I didn't know quite what to say to drive the conversation further. I would forget about this conversation and let a few days pass.
Early this morning, I was looking at my inbox on Facebook and discovered an unread message. The message was from a lady named Shannon, it read "Austin I know you don't know who I am, and I didn't know about you until last weekend, but I am Kevin Augustus's daughter and I would like to talk with you". She ended by giving me her phone number to contact her. There it was, after 26 years I finally made contact with my sister! I was beside myself with excitement about what the future could bring with this new found relationship.
Today I had the opportunity to speak with my newly found sister for a few hours. We compared stories about what we knew about the past. She allowed me to tell her about myself and I listened about who she was as well. In the conversation I would later learn I have another sister and a brother who is close to my age. I learned a lot about my father, including the fact that he doesn't do well with these kinds of things, but he would most likely "warm up to things". The conversation ended with a promise from both of us to work on a relationship from here on out.
This conversation opened a completely new, unexpected chapter in my life. It excites me to think I have the opportunity to actually get to know blood relatives I have never met before. In all of this, I can't neglect the thought that my mother most likely had everything to do with all happening. Never has contact ever been attempted by either party and there was no knowledge about me with the siblings, but randomly all of this occurs? My mother always knew the importance all of this had to me, and I am rest assured that she brought me to my sister on this day! I plan to keep the blog updated on what future events occur!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
