JACKSON, Mich. — Stacey Smith was given up for adoption by her birth mother at a very young age.
"I've always wanted to know who my tribe is...who do I belong to? Who do I look like?" She said.
Stacey has spent years trying to get in touch with her.
"It was something I always knew I wanted to do, but something that always seemed out of reach," she said. "Fast-forward 15 years, and now you can buy a DNA test. My husband encouraged me to buy one and see what happens."
That was back in 2018.
The test led her to discover many of her cousins. One of them, Sonja, helped her day in and out.
"We finally figured out who my birth mother was.. I wrote a letter in January and rewrote it and rewrote it until I was happy with it. I sent it in February. The next morning, I had a phone call from her," Smith said.
Now she and her mom talk on the phone every week.
"It's like I've always known her when we talk. Her senior pictures and my senior pictures...It's like looking at the same person just dressed up in different eras."
Smith planned to drive up to Gaylord to visit earlier this year, but the coronavirus pandemic hit.
"I've been waiting and waiting and waiting, and now I'm finally going to meet her on Saturday," Smith said. "I've always wanted to thank her for having me and for giving me up so that I would have the chance to have a life that would be better than if she kept me."
It's a trip Smith has waited for her whole life.
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