Melanie Pressley was 18 years old when she made the heartbreaking decision to place her newborn son for adoption. It was 1988, and she was struggling financially.
She found an adoption agency and gave her baby to another family, holding onto only one thing, a single photograph of herself cradling her son moments after birth.
Though life moved on, the pain of that moment never truly left her.
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In 2018, Melanie’s daughter gifted her a DNA test as a combined Mother’s Day and birthday present. But secretly, her daughter hoped it might help Melanie reconnect with the son she never stopped thinking about.
When Melanie began using the test, 23andme, she was matched with someone listed as a ‘potential relative’, Greg Vossler.
Curious, she reached out and asked his age. Doing the math in her head, she figured the baby she had given up would be 33 years old. Her heart skipped when Greg responded with his exact birth date: June 17, 1988. It was him.
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Years ago, Greg’s adoptive parents had written Melanie a letter saying they planned to tell him he was adopted when the time was right. That moment had clearly come.
Melanie and Greg started messaging through the DNA site, then moved to texting daily. Eventually, in June 2021, they met in person at Melanie’s home in Ohio.
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Greg met Melanie’s husband and his half-siblings. Melanie met Greg’s wife and two sons. A family, once separated, began stitching itself back together.
“When I took the DNA test, I thought Greg wouldn’t want to meet me,” Melanie said. “But after finding him, my heart was just whole again.”
She added, “Life has a funny way of giving you what you need, not always what you want. Sometimes they’re the same. But sometimes, you don’t realize what you truly need until the future.”
Melanie, who once believed she’d never move past the mourning, now says life has a way of surprising you, just like this daughter who received a long-lost postcard from her WWII veteran father, 77 years later. Some stories take time. But love finds a way.
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