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SALT LAKE CITY — Growing up, Carol Brennan Moss always felt like she was missing something.
“I knew I was adopted (so) I always wondered where I came from, who I looked like (and) where my personality came from," said Moss.
Since Moss’ adoptive mother was sensitive about Moss finding her birth parents, Moss waited until after she passed away to begin her genealogy research.
After dealing with the courts for more than a decade, Moss finally found her mother’s birth certificate, which led her to finding her half-siblings’ names.
“I’m somewhat of a genealogist so I found her obituary and it told me that I had four siblings,” said Moss.
From there, Moss was eager to contact her family members but was cautious about doing so.
“I had no idea who I was contacting, what kind of people they were … (if they) would be offended or (if they would be) upset with their mother,” said Moss.
Moss then created a family tree online. Moss borrowed her half-sisters' photos of her biological mother for her own family tree. She hoped someone from the family would realize this and eventually contact her.
Years earlier, an aunt had told Amy Woodrick, one of Moss’ half-sisters, that their mother had a daughter she gave up for adoption.
“We had nothing to go by,” said Woodrick. "At the time, it was very difficult."
Woodrick is also a genealogist and had created a family tree before finding out about her sister, Carol.
“My husband told me to make (our family tree) public,” Woodrick said.
The timing of Woodrick's husband's urgency to make the profile public was impeccable.
Woodrick soon stumbled across Moss’ profile and realized she could be the sister the family had started to wonder about.
“It took me awhile to comprehend it,” said Woodrick. “I was dumbfounded to think (Carol) could be our long lost sister.”
After reaching out to Moss, the two sisters began talking often, first through emails, then through phone calls.
“It was just very natural just like we had always known each other,” said Moss. “We are just so comfortable. It’s like a hand in a glove … like we know each other (but) we just don’t have the memories from growing up.”
After meeting in person in Washington, D.C., Woodrick noticed even more family traits in Moss.
“She looks so much like Mom,” said Woodrick. “When we first met … I saw her from afar. I could tell it was her because she walks just like Mom.”
Moss learned her favorite food was also her biological mother’s favorite food.
“We were out for the first time … she said she loved lobster,” said Woodrick. “I said, ‘Mom was so fond of lobster, too.’”
Moss eventually met her other two sisters, Susan and Gretchen.
“It was (an) instant connection,” said Gretchen Cunningham. “You could see pieces of Mom, which was great since Mom wasn’t here anymore. It just gave you a great feeling.”
Moss didn’t have sisters growing up. She said the connection she feels with her half-sisters is unlike anything she’s ever felt.
“I have very good girlfriends that I’ve considered sisters, but it’s not the same at all,” said Moss. “I love my friends and sister-in-law so much, but there’s something that doesn’t connect all the way.”
Although Moss never knew her biological mother, Woodrick and Cunningham said they believe Moss is innately connected to her.
Woodrick said a picture she found in Moss’ office when she visited a few years ago capitalizes on their feelings.
“My mom fell in love with this print of (four sisters). It was always (hanging) in her living room. When I was (visiting Carol, I saw that) Carol had the same print,” said Woodrick.
“Here’s something that’s almost like a sign,” said Cunningham. “Carol had the same print and it meant something to her. How many different prints are there? They had that same one. It blew me away.”
Moss purchased the print in 2000 before knowing about her biological mother, three sisters and brother. Moss said she purchased it because of a strong connection she felt to it even when she didn’t know about her siblings.
“The oldest one is in the background and she’s in the shadows, which is pretty amazing because it’s exactly what I am with Gretchen, Amy and Susan,” said Moss. “I am the daughter in the background in the shadows.
Moss said she is grateful for her adoptive family and understands her biological mother’s decision in giving her up at birth.
“I have such sympathy for (my mother) because she didn’t have the chance to have me close to her," said Moss. "I just admire her to give me the opportunity to give me loving parents. Not that she wouldn’t have, but it just wasn’t the right time for her."
Moss said she also has a close connection to her other sister, Susan and Mark. The five siblings plan to unite for the first time at the end of this summer.
As the sisters reflect on their journey of uniting for the first time, they say things fell into place.
“It’s just amazing the way everything lined up the way it did. Carol trying to find us and we finding her,” said Woodrick. “It’s just been an incredible adventure — but it’s not over yet.”
“Over these past three years I have been feeling a connection to my mom,” said Moss. “I feel like she’s aware of me. I have come to know that she has always been thinking of me … (she) hasn’t forgotten me … that has meant a lot to me to know that I wasn’t just something in the past.” Story Idea? Email: jjacobson@ksl.com, Web: Jen-Jacobson.com
