CAMBRIDGE - By day, educator Colleen O’Grady-Johnson plans schedules for students at St. Francis Catholic Elementary.
By night, however, O’Grady-Johnson goes to work on an entirely different passion – trading in her educator’s hat for an angel’s halo.
O’Grady-Johnson is an adoption angel who volunteers her time to help adults search out their biological parents and siblings.
And although she doesn’t charge a dime for the thousands of hours she spends researching trails of clues to find relatives, O’Grady-Johnson considers herself a millionaire each time she helps reconnect families who have been separated by adoption.
“I get chills,” she said, smiling through her words. “It’s like winning the lottery.”
Even though search angels make a decent dollar, she refuses compensation.
“I don’t take a cent. I don’t want any money. It wouldn’t be as rewarding.”
O’Grady-Johnson’s passion for adoption searches started as a summer project a decade ago when she helped her ex-husband find members of his family. That passion is now an addiction, jokes O’Grady-Johnson, who affectionately describes herself as a stalker with a big heart.
“In the last year I have just gone crazy with it,” she said. It’s the most rewarding thing in my entire life. It’s beyond anything.”
O’Grady-Johnson connects with clients via online adoption registries. She searches ads posted by people looking for mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters. Their reasons vary. Some need to know their medical history, while others yearn for emotional healing, in need of closure.
The adoption angel doesn’t just choose anyone as a client, though. Their intentions must be genuine, and they must be willing to prepare for any reaction – good or bad.
“I’ve been really fortunate that every reunion has been really positive,” explained O’Grady-Johnson.
Her pre-search discussions are usually prefaced by an understanding that even if she finds a long-lost relative, that person may not want contact. Armed with a few critical pieces of information, such as a birth date and location, O’Grady-Johnson gets a search started using Internet sites including online obituaries, Classmates, MyLife.com and Facebook, to name a few.
These online search tools are accessible to anyone. But the key to unlocking a story just waiting to be told is tenacity and a creative, curious touch. She’ll often end up with a long list of names. Without skipping a beat, she will send 150 emails or make scores of phone calls.
The chase just makes O’Grady-Johnson hungry for more.
“It’s hours of research. You have to enjoy a good mystery, cause that’s what it is. You just can’t give up.”
Responses range from hang-ups to curious conversations, and of course, confirmed contact. Those conversations can be precarious, she noted, as she never knows what response her introductions will receive. Those difficult talks, however, are eclipsed by the joy of sharing good news with adoptees. She has a favourite precursor to that conversation.
“You need to sit down,” she’s known to say.
The comment is followed by silence.
“I love it,” she laughed.
To Kitchener resident Bob Muschamp, O’Grady-Johnson is a real angel. After his parents passed, he wanted answers about his medical past and find out about possible siblings. He had never thought about tracking down his biological family before, saying his parents did such a good job of raising him.
He connected with O’Grady-Johnson.
Several weeks ago, she found what she was looking for – his brother. After meeting with his brother in a Kitchener restaurant, she put the last piece of the puzzle together and called Muschamp to meet her at the eatery.
“I saw this guy walking up and down the sidewalk,” he recalled. “Both of us knew right away. We knew by our eyes.”
Though unnecessary, O’Grady-Johnson finalized the introduction.
“I can't describe the feeling when I was finally able to say, ‘Bob, meet your brother.’ I left 10 minutes later knowing that the brothers had 45 years’ worth of catching up to do.”
Over several hours, the newly reunited brothers sat at the restaurant and rolled back pages of their lives. They cried, along with the wait staff.
He and his brother live 10 minutes apart.
Even when Muschamp tells the story to the big, burly guys, they’re reduced to tears.
Muschamp’s story is one of many successful searches for O’Grady-Johnson and just one of many reasons she plans to continue.
Her husband teases that she’s a “professional busybody”. Others say she as a gift for mending the broken.
“Whatever one chooses to call it, it feels pretty darn good,” she said.
