Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Michigan man reunited with birth mother at work
AP ^ | 12/19/07

Posted on 12/19/2007 3:51:11 PM PST by Mr. Brightside

Michigan man reunited with birth mother at work

12/19/2007, 4:29 p.m. EST The Associated Press

PLAINFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Steve Flaig wasn't sure how to approach his co-worker with his big news.

It would seem brash to walk up and say, "Hi, I'm Steve, your son." How would she react to that, he wondered.

Flaig's long search for his birth mother ended in early October when he learned that she was the woman he previously knew only as Chris, the head cashier at a Lowe's home-improvement store just outside Grand Rapids, in Kent County's Plainfield Township.

"I would walk by her, look at her from a distance, not knowing how to approach her," Flaig, 22, told The Grand Rapids Press for a story published Wednesday. "You don't come stocked with information on how to deal with this."

When Lowe's Cos. hired Christine Tallady to work at the store last April, she had no idea that the young delivery driver to whom she was introduced was her son.

She gave birth to him on Oct. 5, 1985, while she was single and not ready to be a mother. It was a difficult decision for her to give him up for adoption.

Tallady left the adoption record open, figuring that her son might someday want to contact her. She often thought of him, particularly on his birthday, but life went on. She got married and had two more children.

Flaig, meanwhile, always knew that he was adopted. His parents, Pat and Lois Flaig, supported him when he decided to search for his birth mother. They had done the same with their younger son, Scott, who found his birth mother almost a year ago.

When Steve Flaig turned 18 four years ago, he asked DA Blodgett for Children, the agency that arranged his adoption, for his background information.

It arrived a couple of months later and included his birth mother's name. He searched the Internet for her address but came up empty.

In October, around his 22nd birthday, Flaig took out the paperwork from DA Blodgett and realized he had been spelling his birth mother's surname wrong as "Talladay."

He typed "Tallady" into a search engine and came up with a home address that was less than a mile from the Lowe's store and just around the corner from where his adoptive parents raised him.

When he mentioned it to his boss, she said, "You mean Chris Tallady, who works here?"

Flaig was stunned: "I was like, there's no possible way."

On Dec. 12, on his day off, Flaig happened to be driving past DA Blodgett's offices, so he stopped in and told them of his find. An employee there volunteered to call Tallady for him.

Tallady, now 45, was surprised to get the call at Lowe's and astonished to learn that the son she had given up for adoption 22 years earlier was a co-worker.

"It was a shock," she said. "I started crying. I figured he would call me sometime, but not like this."

Flaig said he is eager to meet her other two children, 12-year-old Alexandria and 10-year-old Brandon, his half-siblings.

"I have a complete family now, all my kids," Tallady said. "It's a perfect time of year. It's the best Christmas present ever."


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: adoption; lowes
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-24 next last

1 posted on 12/19/2007 3:51:12 PM PST by Mr. Brightside
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Mr. Brightside

This darn monitor has a way of fogging up all the time.


2 posted on 12/19/2007 3:53:47 PM PST by ElkGroveDan (I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired of all the politics in politics.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Mr. Brightside

Nice story. It’s always good to have more people to love.


3 posted on 12/19/2007 3:55:10 PM PST by Palladin (Cackle..cackle..cackle. Hillary laid another egg.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Mr. Brightside

4 posted on 12/19/2007 3:56:53 PM PST by Mr. Brightside
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Mr. Brightside

here is a video:

http://www.breitbart.tv/?p=16484

Son Searching for Birth-Mother Finds Out She Works With Him at Lowe’s


5 posted on 12/19/2007 3:57:35 PM PST by RDTF (Remember Pearl Harbor)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Larry Lucido; Cagey; MotleyGirl70; Gamecock; Rb ver. 2.0

KRAMER: Ma?

BABS: Cosmo!!!

GEORGE: Cosmo?


6 posted on 12/19/2007 4:01:42 PM PST by Mr. Brightside
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Mr. Brightside

So Lowes really is “Improving Home Improvement”?!?


7 posted on 12/19/2007 4:14:13 PM PST by IllumiNaughtyByNature (To Err Is Human. To Arr is Pirate!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: LibreOuMort

10/04/1985 + 1 day resolves well!


8 posted on 12/19/2007 4:16:10 PM PST by sionnsar (trad-anglican.faithweb.com |Iran Azadi| 5yst3m 0wn3d - it's N0t Y0ur5 (SONY) | UN: Useless Nations)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ElkGroveDan
This darn monitor has a way of fogging up all the time.

Yours too?!

9 posted on 12/19/2007 4:16:44 PM PST by sionnsar (trad-anglican.faithweb.com |Iran Azadi| 5yst3m 0wn3d - it's N0t Y0ur5 (SONY) | UN: Useless Nations)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: grellis

“Not all the MI news is bad” ping


10 posted on 12/19/2007 4:21:22 PM PST by sionnsar (trad-anglican.faithweb.com |Iran Azadi| 5yst3m 0wn3d - it's N0t Y0ur5 (SONY) | UN: Useless Nations)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Mr. Brightside; glock rocks; Pete-R-Bilt; WestCoastGal; SouthTexas; NYTexan

Home improvement thread...


11 posted on 12/19/2007 4:23:17 PM PST by tubebender (Lost another one to the Tag Line bandit...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: tubebender
Tallady left the adoption record open, figuring that her son might someday want to contact her.

I guess those extended warranties are a good thing.

12 posted on 12/19/2007 4:40:27 PM PST by NYTexan (Have met more Freepers than I can count. I am blessed to call many of them friends)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

Comment #13 Removed by Moderator

To: Mr. Brightside

Well, God bless her. She didn’t abort him, and she didn’t keep him in a situation which wasn’t the best for him. She did the right thing!


14 posted on 12/19/2007 4:53:03 PM PST by susannah59
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: NYTexan; tubebender
All we need now is for the 48 to roll into the picture.

Naw, it's pretty enough as is. :)

15 posted on 12/19/2007 7:07:46 PM PST by SouthTexas (Have a Merry and Blessed Christmas.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: Quix

Lowe’s Ping.


16 posted on 12/19/2007 7:08:37 PM PST by Joya (Hark! the herald angels sing, Glory to the newborn king. Peace on earth and mercy mild ...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Mr. Brightside

Good thing this happened at Lowe’s. At Home Depot, the cashier would have just shrugged, and told you she wasn’t your birth mother, but that your birth mother was in the non-existent aisle number 95.


17 posted on 12/19/2007 7:12:12 PM PST by July 4th (A vacant lot cancelled out my vote for Bush.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: K4Harty

LOL.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
LOWE’s. Let’s build something together.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It’s a really nice story.

God bless that woman for being pro-life.

May many others be inspired to be the same.


18 posted on 12/19/2007 7:21:23 PM PST by Joya (Hark! the herald angels sing, Glory to the newborn king. Peace on earth and mercy mild ...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: Mr. Brightside

God, what a great story.


19 posted on 12/19/2007 7:28:10 PM PST by ShadowDancer ("To succeed in life, you need three things: a wishbone, a backbone and a funny bone.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ShadowDancer
God, what a great story.

You've got that right....

20 posted on 12/20/2007 7:44:21 AM PST by r9etb
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-24 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson