Woman finds children after 55-year search
Posted 11/7/02

For 55 years, Vernice Peterson has been searching for her son and daughter.

Back in the ë40s, Vernice was living in Clear Lake, Iowa with her husband and two children.

When the couple divorced, Vernice found herself with two children and no job. Thinking her children would be better off, she left her five-year-old daughter Karen Dorene and three-year-old son Robert Arlen with her ex-husband in Iowa.

She then moved back to Minneapolis to live with her mother and her grandmother in a one-room house.

In 1947, Verniceís ex-husband left, leaving the children with the state. Vernice attended the hearing in Iowa that was going to put her children up for adoption. She pleaded with the court to let her have her children back.

"It was very, very hard," Vernice said.

But the Iowa courts wouldnít allow the children to be taken out of state. So, Vernice insisted that if her son and daughter had to be put up for adoption, they at least be kept together.

Vernice remarried and had two children, another son, Jim and a daughter, Vercle, whom everyone calls Sue. Vernice said she knew Sue would be an artist, so she felt sure about giving her the unusual name (itís a combination of Vernice and her husband Cleland).

Though she had two children to raise, she never stopped trying to find Karen and Robert.

"I always called him Bobby, of course," Vernice said. "He was so little."

Vernice continually wrote letters to judges and clerks of court, she went to courthouses and contacted human service departments seeking information about her adopted children.

Vernice wanted the adoption file opened so she could locate them, but the file was sealed and nothing she said could convince the courts to open it.

At one point she asked a judge, "These children arenít children anymore, shouldnít they be given the opportunity to meet me if they want?"

Tired of living in the Twin Cities, Vernice moved out of a Minneapolis senior high-rise to Milaca, where her daughter Sue had moved to.

"I took one look at the [Milaca Park] apartments, and I knew this is where I wanted to be," Vernice said.

That was 2000, the same year Vernice had finally saved enough money to hire someone to help find her children. She contacted World Wide Tracers of Texas.

They began the process of tracking down Verniceís children and it eventually came down to medical records. Vernice has diabetes, high blood pressure and a pacemaker. Her daughter Sue has multiple sclerosis.

Vernice and World Wide Tracers decided this might be a way to at least get medical history to her children. If the children wanted to contact her, it would be up to them.

"Are they going to want to see me?" Vernice asked herself. "Are they still alive? Did they have a good life? Do they have kids?" she wondered.

"I prayed every morning and every night for all those years."

Back in Iowa

Robert and Karenís adoptive parents changed the childrenís names to Jim Robert Larson and Linda Karen Larson. They kept their first names as their middle names.

"I donít really remember her too much," Linda said of her birth mother. "I do remember being taken from one family to another."

Jim said he didnít remember his mom at all, but he was only three years old.

"We often wondered if there were any other siblings out there," Linda said. "When my son had a health problem [a rare blood disorder], then we really wondered. Thatís when we really started to get interested in knowing."

After his adoptive parents passed away, Jim felt it was time to look for his birth mother.

"For about the past eight to 10 years Iíve been searching for my mother," Jim said. "I couldnít get no place with records."

On Sept. 20, 2002, Jim received a letter from World Wide Tracers with medical information.

"I thought maybe I could find out if sheís still around," Jim said.

When the letter stated that his mom and sister were looking for him, Jim thought, "No, I know my sister and sheís not looking for me."

He finally realized his mother must have had more children.

Linda admits she was cautious at first. "I didnít know what to think of this detective. I know there are a lot of scams out there."

Linda was told there was a lot red tape to get the file opened and it would cost a lot of money.

But Jim contacted the clerk of court in Winnebago County, where he was adopted from and found out it was simply a matter of writing a letter to the judge explaining why he wanted the file open. And the cost? A mere $10.50.

The clerk also told Jim that the judge would be at the courthouse the next day and to get the letter to her by noon.

That night, while Jim was at work, his wife Jill drafted the letter. She picked him up at work at 7 oíclock. the next morning and headed to the courthouse with the letter.

Around 2:30 that afternoon, Jim called the clerk. She told him the judge would open the file.

Jimís truck was at a relativeís house so he asked a friend to drive him there. But the friendís vehicle had a flat tire.

Frustrated, Jim called his wifeís boss for a ride. He was finally on the road. The 30-40 minute drive to the county courthouse seemed to take forever, Jim said.

He arrived at 4 p.m. Thinking the court house closed at 4:30, Jim felt good about the time. But when he got to the door a sign said, "Closed."

Luckily, a janitor saw him and asked if he was Jim Larson. It turns out the courthouse closed at 3:30 p.m. and the clerk had waited for him.

"Must be Godís timing," was all Jim could say.

Jim then took the file back to Jillís office, where he sat down and started going through the information contained within.

"I found a letter from Mom and found out she was in Minneapolis," Jim said.
"Iíve been there many times."

He found another letter with a name, address and phone number. His wife dialed the number right then.

"Are you looking for a son you gave up for adoption 50 some years ago?" Jill asked Vernice.

After hearing the response, Jill said, "I think youíre talking with your daughter-in-law. Would you like to talk to your son?"

"I burst into tears," Vernice said. "I was so shook up."

"Nine hours from the time I put the letter in to the judge, I was talking with my mom," Jim said.

Jim told his mother he had the following Monday and Tuesday off of work and asked if they could visit her.

" Youíd come up to see me?" she asked.

Vernice later received a letter from Linda who told her mom she was sorry, but she had to work and wouldnít be able to make the trip with Jim.

Shortly after writing that letter, Linda called Jim and said she found out she could go, but added, "Letís not tell Mom."

Off to Milaca

Jim, Jill, and Linda left Iowa early that Monday morning after Jim finished work.

"My head was going around and around, but I finally dozed off a bit," Jim said of the ride to Milaca.

Jim and Linda wanted to surprise Vernice with Lindaís arrival. Seeing Vernice outside the apartments waiting, the "kids" took the back way to the flower shop to get some roses for her and to drop Linda off a block away so she could surprise Vernice.

But when they arrived Vernice had already gone back inside her apartment.

From her window, Vernice saw Jim pull up.

"I saw him get out of the van. I didnít even look at the license plate. I looked at him and knew it was my son," Vernice said.

They purchased three roses for Vernice. When they arrived, Jim led the group carrying one of the roses and a sign that said, "We." Jill came next with a sign that read, "Love."

Vernice had her back to the street as she was introducing her son and daughter-in-law to someone, when Jill said to Vernice, "I want you to meet your daughter Linda."

Linda appeared with two signs, which said, "You - Mom."

"ëWe love you, Mom,í I couldnít believe it, they called me Mom," Vernice said with tears in her eyes.

"It was the most awesome thing that ever happened to me," Vernice said. "There were hugs immediately and it was a good thing they hugged me, or I probably would have fallen over."

Linda said, "There were a lot of tears. We thought that the roses would show our appreciation of her still looking for us. A symbol of the gratitude that we were finally able to find each other."

"It felt good," Jim said of seeing his mom. "A gap, a hole has been filled. It was a part of our life we didnít know anything about. We didnít know who we were or what was going on, or why."

"It was so emotional," Linda said. "A lot of crying, a lot of hugging. A lot of mixed feelings. From the day we found out until we actually met her was overwhelming. After she told us why she had to give us up, we understood."

Jim and Linda also got to meet their half-sister, Susan.

"Susan was real sweet. She was anxious to meet us," Linda said.

Vernice told her children how much she loved them and she found out about all those questions she had of them.

She discovered her children did end up together, but it had more to do with the kids than it did with Verniceís pleading to keep them together. According to Jim, he and Linda had developed their own language between them. "No one could understand us," he said. So the two were kept together.

"My adopted mom and dad had tried out two boys, but that didnít work," Jim said. "Then they [adoption agency] brought the two of us in and asked if they would try it. They took us and kept us. We finally got so we could talk half-way decent."

Back to Iowa

Jim and Linda invited their mother to Iowa to meet her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. When she arrived, they showed her the farm where the two grew up and the schools they attended. And they took Vernice to their homes to meet their families. Her families now, too.

While in Iowa, the family went to Pizza Hut for supper one night. The waitress, an older woman named Mary, had just read an article about Jim and his mother in the local newspaper.

"We walked in and she went bonkers," Jim said of the waitress who recognized them immediately. "I saw your article, Iím so happy, give me a hug," the waitress said to them.

"Everybody was looking at us," Jim said.

They soon learned that Mary hasnít seen her son for 18 years and she has been trying to find him. She was inspired by their story.

Jim told the waitress, "Donít ever give up."

A happy ending - a new beginning

Vernice talks with her children every week. Sheís still trying to learn all the grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildrenís names - there are 20 of them.

Ironically, Vernice now has two sons named Jim, so Jim of Forest Lake is now referred to by the family as "Mac."

Another twist to the story...a woman in Iowa who read the article called Jim. She told him she remembered a young boy named Bobby and a young girl named Karen who lived with her family. It turns out the womanís mother was one of Jim and Lindaís foster parents.

Verniceís friends are all learning of her "new" family, because she never wanted to tell anyone she had two children who were adopted. "I was afraid Iíd never find them," she said.

At 80-years-old, Vernice has finally found her children. Sheís found answers to many questions, and sheís found a new life.