I was adopted as an infant because my adoptive mother couldn't have any more kids than my "sister" who is 9 years older than me. Seven years ago, my mother was given 1-3 months to live and asked that I come take care of her during her dying days. I didn't understand why me since she treated me the worst, but I went, without question. It meant leaving my husband 800 miles away to take care of our then 3 and 5 year old children for an undeterminted amount of time, and taking unpaid leave from work.

Mom only lasted 1 month after my arrival. My "sister" was angry at me because I was "chosen" to aid my mother during her last days. Suffice it to say, we have been totally estranged since Sept. 2000. We were never close because of our beliefs and age difference, but I have thought about her over the years. I knew she and her husband always kept their phonenumber unpublished. However, I was able to find her daughter (my niece) in the white pages. I called, my niece answered, I told her who I was, and she said "What the he** do you want". I politely told her I wanted to give her my address and phone number in case her Mom wanted to contact me. Then she proceeded with "How in the fu** did you get my number"?. I slowly told her it was listed in the white pages. I gave her my number (which I know she did NOT write down), said nice talking to ya, and hung up.

That was 2 weeks ago. No word from anyone since. I guess I should feel better because I tried, but now I am even more confused because my niece was so mean to me.

k, all done now. thanks for listening!