Dee’s Story – Dee’s Chili Cookoff

Dee’s Story – Dee’s Chili Cookoff

Written by Desiree Hovland

Do you have a favorite recipe for chili? Dee loves making chili and has competed in the World Championship Chili cook-off in Trilingua, Texas 18 years in a row. He believes at one of these competitions he encountered his biological mother. Dee and his persistent wife have been searching for his biological parents for over 30 years. Dee always knew he was adopted, and has always been curious of his ancestor roots. His adopted Mom had trepidation over him searching for his birth family.

Locating Dee’s biological mother was difficult because she went by her middle name. The orphanage also encouraged the young pregnant ladies to use fake names.

Dee met his Maternal siblings for the first time in May 2021, and now they see each other often and talk on the phone frequently. Dee didn’t have a close relationship with his adoptive sister, and now he knows what it feels like to have a loving relationship with his brother and sisters. Through his siblings he has learned so much about his birth Mom and knows they had so much in common.

When speaking to his siblings about his chili competition, they remembered their Mom attending. Dee’s brother said, “Mom came home from the chili competition and said, ‘I met your twin today.’” Dee is confident they met and even feels he gave her a friendly kiss on the cheek.

I asked Dee about his first meeting with his siblings who were essentially strangers. He quickly stopped me and said, “that’s the thing we have never felt like strangers.”

Jill, Brian and Julie purchased DNA kits shortly after their mother died, but never completed the process and sent it in for testing. However, once Dee found the siblings, Jill decided to turn in her kit and now she jokes that she is the only proven sibling of Dee’s. Jill remembers the day, location, and what she was eating when she got the Facebook Messenger message that her brother had been found. The siblings had known about Dee for many years and even had hired a private investigator. She saw a picture of him and instantly knew… that’s my brother. The siblings had been mourning the death of their mother for 8 months, but believe she had her hand in making the reunion happen with Dee.

Dee’s reunion with his maternal siblings has been joyful and he hopes to build a relationship with his paternal sister as well. However, he feels it’s “their loss” if some biological relatives don’t want a relationship “you only get so many days, so many family members, enjoy the family you have and it doesn’t hurt to get to know someone and give them an opportunity.”

“Search angels”, “DNA search”, “how do you identify a birth parent”, and “how to identify your birth mother/father”, are all popular Google searches. Dee’s wife, Jaimie, discovered DNAngels, maybe with a Google search, but she believes it was divine intervention.

When Jaimie reached out to DNAngels he had no expectations; they had been searching for over 30 years and continued to hit brick walls. The only information Dee knew when he contacted DNAngels was when he was born in 1964, his birth mother was 16 and his birth father was 18 years old. He was born in San Antonio, Texas and his birth mother stayed at the Bunker Baptist home till his delivery at St. Rose’s Hospital. He spent his first two weeks of his life with her.

Dee and Jaimie were partnered with Search Angel Tara Dawn, and she located both his biological parents in less than two weeks. Within a matter of days he could see his ancestral tree growing and growing, it was exciting. A cousin match was the missing piece to confirming his biological mother. Unfortunately, both his biological parents had passed away. His biological father passed away in 2014. His biological Mom died in August 2020. On April 19, 2021 he contacted his maternal siblings, because Tara was able to give him the names of his three half siblings (Julie, Brian and Jill). A family friend took to Facebook and made the initial call to his half-sister, but when he was able to have conversations with his siblings he describes it as an instant bond.

Tara refers to Dee as her “Birthday Twin” because she was assigned the case on her birthday and Dee’s shared Birthday of April 11. She will always have a special place in her heart for Dee and his new and wonderful family.

Dee knows his paternal relatives were prominent people in the community and suspect they may have paid the Buckner agency money to not release his biological father’s name.

Dee’s advice:  “you only get so many days, so many family members, enjoy the family you have and it doesn’t hurt to get to know someone and given then an opportunity.”

My Advice to Dee and his siblings.  Head to the kitchen, make a pot of chili, head to the Original Terlingua Championship Chili Cookoff and remember to bring a nice cold beer.  A great tribute to your mother. Thanks for being a part of the DNAngels’ family and being willing to let us be a part of your reunion.