Man looking for his birth mom shocked after discovering they both had worked in the same hospital
It’s unbelievable how there’s a time for everything. The things meant for us could be right in front of our eyes and yet we wouldn’t have a clue. Each blessing, joy, gift and memory, all make its way at its due time. For a middle school substitute teacher, Benjamin Hulleberg, things were no different. Adopted at a very young age, the man only knew his biological mother by the name “Holly,” per Good Morning America. The duo had unknowingly crossed each others’ paths long before they realized their blissful fate. It was only after an exceptional revelation that Hulleberg realized that he had been volunteering at the same hospital his birth mother worked at and that the duo had passed right by each other.
Holly Shearer, his birth mom, revisits the moment she let him go every single day. “He was always on my mind. More so on holidays and his birthday, a roller coaster of emotions. I thought about him all the time,” the mom remarked. The mother made efforts to find her son and spotted his social media page. However, she refused to abruptly enter his life. “He was 18 when I found him and I was very hesitant. He had so much going on, the last thing I wanted to do was to throw a wrench in his life. So I just watched from a distance,” she recalled. Little did Shearer know that Hulleberg had also been looking for his biological mom all this time.
“I have always had a deep desire to meet my birth mother, simply for the opportunity to thank her for the selfless decision that she made those many years back,” Hulleberg wrote in a post on Facebook. He tried getting a DNA test, visiting the adoption agency and more but in vain. While these things kept echoing in their hearts, the duo were aloof that they were just a few steps away from each other at the Heart Center at St. Mark's. Shearer was a medical assistant at the hospital and Hulleberg had volunteered at the NICU. Fate knew they’d reunite but not at that moment. Despite the duo being in the same space, they never figured out each other's true identity.
Shearer then decided to wish her son on his birthday via a message. She was careful to not disclose anything. However, Hulleberg was curious to know who the then-stranger might be. That’s when the mom came clean. She wrote back, “You don’t know me. It is weird to have a stranger message you. 20 years ago, I made the hardest decision of my life and placed my beautiful baby up for adoption with a beautiful family. I have no intention of flipping your life upside down. I have thought about you every day and finally dared to send you a message wishing you a happy birthday.”
“When she texted me back, it hit me like a load of bricks,” Hulleberg recalled. The duo immediately met and made amends in the most heartwarming way. “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,” Shearer said. Hulleberg was also delighted to learn that he had half-siblings as well and is looking forward to being an active part of their lives too. “Holly Shearer, thank you for your selfless decision 20 years ago, today, to set me in the arms of my parents. I will always be grateful for it,” he wrote.