Family gathers to greet long lost sister

By CHARLES W. JOHNSON News Editor for the Southern Standard

The Moore and McInnis families met their long lost half-sister, Julie Lynsky, for the first time. Julie was adopted as a baby 36 years ago. Pictured are, from left, Malcolm E.J. ?Johnny? Moore, Evelyn L. Bruce, Debbie Campbell, Lynsky and Dan McInnis.

Debbie Campbell and her family launched a journey of discovery earlier this year when Debbie managed to find and contact a long lost half-sister who had been adopted as a child 36 years ago. Debbie?s personal journey began with a promise to her terminally ill father, Malcolm Moore, who passed away in 2003. Around three months before his death, Malcolm had asked Debbie to find her sister, the child of Malcolm and his second wife, Tressie McInnis Moore. At the time Debbie didn?t have much hope.

?I told him I didn?t have anything to go by,? Debbie recalled. ?What her name was or anything.?

But the death of Debbie?s grandmother, Martha Moore, just a month later changed everything. The family found the child?s birth records among her grandmother?s things, and Debbie started the search for her sister in earnest. It began with a visit to children?s services here in McMinnville, who put her in touch with the adoption agency in Nashville.

Debbie learned her name was Julie Lynsky and she had been raised in Chattanooga and now lives in Dunlap with her husband, Timothy, and their almost 2-year-old son, Matthew. After a letter from Julie and a tearful phone call, Debbie began working on organizing a meeting between Julie?s family and the family she had never known.

That meeting recently took place at Ryan?s with her half-brothers and sisters on the Moore side, Malcolm E.J. ?Johnny? Moore, Evelyn L. Bruce and Debbie, and a half-brother on the McInnis side, Dan McInnis, all on hand to meet a tearful Julie and her family. Along with the brothers and sisters was a group of extended family and friends.

The reaction from Julie and her siblings was both joyful and bittersweet. Joyful because they had found each other, and bittersweet considering all the years they had missed.

?It?s very exciting,? Julie said. ?It?s emotional.?

She talked about how she felt about finding out she had an extended family.

?I was shocked,? she said. ?I was very shocked. It never entered my mind that I had anybody else out there. I mean, it did at one point, but then you just don?t think about it, when you?re adopted like that. I just didn?t think about it, even having any other siblings out there, and then to find out I have as many as I have now, it?s incredible.?

Debbie, who began the journey at the request of her father, said she felt a sense of closure.

?I?m relieved that all of us are together,? Debbie said.

?I?m very excited and happy,? said sister Evelyn.

Brother Johnny, who brought roses for his newfound sister, said he was happy to find he had another sister.

?It?s good to have two,? he said with a grin, ?but, you know, three?s company.?

Knowing she was adopted did generate some curiosity about her background, but Julie didn?t dwell on it. Still, her best friend had asked her over the years if she ever wanted to find out.

?I always thought, ?I?m fine right now,? and I knew the channels were hard to go through,? Julie said.

But in an amazing, or perhaps not so amazing, coincidence, Julie had laid the groundwork for her own search.

?Then recently, after I had Matthew, I had gotten all this information I needed to find out, and I just hadn?t done it,? Julie said. ?I had it all written down to do it, and I just hadn?t done it, and then it just happened. It?s been strange how this happened.?

Julie said it?s all been a bit overwhelming, suddenly finding out you have this extended family after all these years.

?I don?t really know what to think about it yet,? she said. ?I?ve had a couple of months to think on it, but it?s just like, I don?t know. This is the first time I?ve met Dan. I didn?t know he was going to be here today. But I?ve talked to the girls and I?ve gotten to know them over the phone, and I feel I?ve known them forever. It?s really strange.?

The families plan to keep in contact now that the connections have been made. And though its been an emotional journey, it?s one that Debbie says she is so glad she made, for herself, for Julie, and for the rest of their extended family.