Page Two

 Page Two

    One day in 1976ish Bill called me and let me know that he had found and looked into his sealed birth certificate at the Alameda County courthouse.  He also saw mine but he didn't unseal it at the time.  I subsequently headed to the Bay Area as soon as practical.  We never got into trouble for this violation but since then they have moved all archived records to Sacramento.

    On that foray into my hidden history I did confirm my Bio mom's name and address at my birth in 1944.  There was No information on my Bio father.  

    Armed with her full name, Helene Ann Vincent(e), I embarked on a search of marriage records(none located in California) and birth records which did yield her parents names and location.  Of course they had long left the ranch they lived on, in Benicia, before the bridge was built.  Years later, when I did find my Bio grandma(Amelia Costa) she told me about watching them build the Carquinez Bridge(1922-27).  Of course, on Helene Ann Vincent(e) birth certificate the name Amelia Costa was not listed and her maiden name was DeSouza.

So for the time being I just looked in phone books of the Bay Area under the name Vincent or Vincente.  One afternoon in 1984 I spoke with a cousin of  Helene's.  He remembered playing with her as a child and he thought she had married, moved away, and since had passed away...But he thought her mom, Amelia, was living somewhere in the East Bay.  Soo...I started seeking out DeSouza's in the county.  I found no listing for Amelia Souza or DeSouza or Vincente.  I finally did connect with her sister in law in West Pittsburg(California), married to her brother John.  She took my story and said she would call Amelia(unlisted phone) and get back to me.  Within the hour she called me back and said Amelia would like to meet me.  I headed over to the Antioch address she gave me with no small degree of trepidation!

Here I go to meet a lady in her 80's, claiming to be her illegitimate grandchild from forty years ago.  I feared I would give her a heart attack.

My fears were relieved when she opened the door.  It felt like we were connected at once,  It just felt like we were family.  We spoke for over two hours during which time she told me of my Bio mom(who had passed away in 1970), And my three half brothers in Seattle, And her widow, Howard, who Amelia had No love for!  I left and drove North to Ashland on Cloud 9 or 10.

To Be Continued: