I opened the letter and immediately noticed the entire package contained the aroma of cigarette smoke. The feelings that were dominant in these initial moments were those of despair and fear. I was so afraid that what I had done was a huge mistake. The letter was printed in black ink on 5 x 9 notepaper, one-sided. After the customary greeting came my father's primary response to the receipt of my letter, the words 'thank you". He referred to the fact that he couldn't believe he wasn't dreaming since he had dreamed of this many times. He stated that he didn't know what to write and knew it must have been hard for me to do the same but he was glad I did. Then came a revelation that I had not expected to learn and one which added to my state of shock. I read the words, 'I have never met you." The realization that this man had never so much as laid eyes on me, never held me as an infant, never touched me was a concept that I found profound.

In The Best of Intentions , author Nick Willis recounts the joyful experience of being united with her biological father while facing the demise of her twenty-year marriage.