Through time and tragedy

By JOSH MCDONALD

Staff Reporter

How important is an origin story?

We see them everywhere these days, from books and movies to everyday life.

A lot of this is in part to specialty genealogy services and ease of access to DNA testing, so now people can trace their roots further back than ever before.

But what if it was your immediate history that had just been erased?

In the blink of eye, an entire generation suddenly ghosted…

That is what happened to Millie Hutchinson and her six siblings nearly 50 years ago.

Following the death of their mother in 1969, Hutchinson and her siblings were split up and had no contact with each other until earlier this year, when after a lengthy search, they found one another and reunited for the first time in half a century.

Carol Ann Frisbie was born in Wallace in 1942 and was just 26 years old when she passed away, leaving her seven children alone, despite there being three different fathers who were unavailable to care for their respective children.

“After our mother’s death, we were separated into three groups, by fathers and age, and put up for adoption,” Hutchinson recalled. “Nancy was 15 (the oldest and Hutchinson’s half-sister) at the time and was never adopted. Cheri (age 9), Lynn (8), Lori (7) and Rusty (6) were eventually adopted together. Al (2) and I (Hutchinson aged 3), the youngest, were adopted together, we were so young that we forgot that we had older siblings.”

As heartbreaking as that is, it grows more so after discovering that Hutchinson’s sister Cheri, who was 9 at the time of their separation, would pass away just 13 years later at the age of 22.

Cheri’s death came just months before Hutchinson’s 18th birthday, which was the day that Cheri could have — and had planned to — begin her search for her lost siblings.

“Cheri was 9 and would have been 59 this year, but passed away before she was legally able to contact Al and I,” Hutchinson said. “I was turning 18 the following May, and Cheri had intended to search for us. The saddest part is that Cheri, Al, and I never got to see each other again.”

The children’s grandmother, long-time Silver Valley resident Patsy (Ogilvie) Sala (deceased in 2013), never stopped looking for them as long as she was able.

“She instilled in her family the importance of continuing the search in her place,” Hutchinson said. “Cheri, Lynn, Lori and Rusty were found by the family a few years ago, but the search continued for Al and myself.”

Hutchinson and Al led very normal lives, as did the other siblings.

They were married, had children and were blessed with grandchildren; but for Hutchinson, something was missing.

“I was able to get a copy of my original birth certificate in March, telling me my name at birth and my parents’ names. At the same time, I received results of a DNA test,” Hutchinson said. “I found my family in Kellogg after getting my DNA results. I found family on my dad’s side who helped me find my mom’s family. Al and I were too young to have any memories of that time, so you can imagine my surprise when I found out there were seven of us all together.”

Over the years, the family had tracked down Lynn, Lori and Rusty, but hadn’t been able to find Hutchinson or Al due to an unforeseen circumstance.

“The family could not track down Al and I because we had moved out of Washington and eventually settled in British Columbia in 1976,” Hutchinson said.

Hutchinson then set out to find Nancy, the one sister who had never been adopted and was only biologically connected to her and Al, but had played an important role for all of the children during the difficult time of their mother passing.

“Lori was really the only one that remembered Nancy, her stepsister, but my half-sister. Our extended family didn’t know about her, they were all too young at the time and distance separated us,” Hutchinson said. “We only knew her name, age and that she and I had the same dad. I decided that I would put out a public Facebook call for help. Within three hours, I got a message from a genealogist saying she had found her. The family was then complete.”

When Hutchinson says the family was complete — she really means it.

As an orphaned child who had been adopted, Hutchinson dealt with the pains of not always feeling like she belonged, which was worsened by the empty hole she wasn’t able to fill with a new family when there was still foggy memories of her first family.

“I have always felt something was missing. When you are adopted, you don’t quite fit in with your new family. No one looks like you. You just feel different,” Hutchinson said. “I knew my name had been changed, but from what? When I got my birth certificate in the mail and for the first time I knew my name and parents names, I felt like I could float away. I joked with friends that I had to tie a string around my ankle to keep from floating away.”

After tracking down her rediscovered family, the children finally met again (barring one) in June of this year in Everett, Wash. They had another reunion earlier this month, but this time all of the siblings were able to make it and for the first time in nearly 50 years, the family was truly complete.

“To finally meet family that looks like me was the most exciting for any adoptee,” Hutchinson said. “My siblings and I all have some features in common, even hobbies. After meeting my family in Kellogg, I have seen pictures of one of my mom’s sisters that has passed already, but I am almost her twin. Her daughter (Hutchinson’s cousin) looked like she had seen a ghost when we met.”

Both Hutchinson and her younger brother were so young when this all began that literally everything they are finding out about their family and their past is new to them, but fortunately their local family members Chris Campbell (aunt) and Paul Sala (uncle) are helping them fill in the blanks.

“When I was able to contact my Aunt Chris and Uncle Paul and was told I had older siblings. That was the best surprise. The Sala family had been looking for all of us kids for the 49 years we had been gone,” Hutchinson said. “Our older siblings knew about us and never stopped hoping to find us. All the pieces of the puzzle have been found. No one intends to lose touch with each other again. Everything just feels right.”

A journey of nearly 50 years is hopefully just the beginning for this new family.