A man has been reunited with his biological mother after 20 years apart after she sent him a birthday message on Facebook.
Benjamin Hulleberg, a middle school substitute teacher from Utah, knew only of his mother as ‘Holly’ and had been raised for two decades by Brian and Angela Hulleberg.
Holly had Benjamin when she was just 15 and had given him up for adoption. Benjamin had never held any ill will and had always wanted to meet her, saying:
“It was always a very positive conversation. It was my parents either expressing gratitude for Holly or me talking about how I’m grateful for her and how I want to meet her one day.”
Holly had received some updates as she got older but had never seen her son, eventually tracking him down on social media. She had found him 2 years ago but was apprehensive, saying:
“He had so much going on his life. … The last thing I wanted to do is to throw a wrench in his life. So I just watched from a distance.”
Little did she know that Benjamin was trying to track her, even going as far as to use a DNA registry.
On the day Holly made contact Benjamin was in shock, he said:
“I can remember the exact place that I was at when I got the message. I was at work. I was a machine operator and I remember I was in machine No. 15. I was in between our hourly quality checks and I got on my phone and I saw her message and I just replied.”
“I was crying. It was all very positive emotions. But to me, this is a day I had been waiting for the past 20 years of my life and to imagine that it was finally happening was outrageous. It was a lot to take in. I would definitely say it was a dream come true. I’ve said that about things in my life, like ‘Oh, I’m so glad I graduated. It’s a dream come true.’ But this? This was the most true time I’ve ever said it.”
Amazingly, Holly worked as a medical researcher close to Benjamin’s school. She said:
“Every morning, I would come in through the women’s pavilion to come into work. So I passed right by the NICU every single day. We parked in the same garage, could have been on the same floor, had no idea that we were so close.”
The two now have a close bond with Benjamin grateful to his parents who raised him and to Holly for reconnecting.
[Based on reporting by: Positive Outlooks]