Hazel Stubbs Reyes, from Hampshire, England, has had a long and moving journey of finding her son, whom she gave up for adoption at a young age. The 80-year-old former nurse was left without her child in 1961 at the age of 22.
The meeting turned out to be very touching, but not only because of the long separation. The family has reunited, and now 58-year-old Duet Kenneth lives with a loving mother, but more recently, the man was far from being cloudless. It turned out that he lived a very difficult life and at the time of the meeting, he had neither housing nor work. In addition, the Duo suffered from alcohol addiction.
When Hazel first saw Kenneth, she learned that he lived in an abandoned pub, having lost all hope for her future, but the woman admitted that she never forgot about her child.
There was not a day when he was not in my thoughts when I did not think about whether he was okay.
The story began in 1960 when Heizer met a young naval officer during a weekend at a local military camp. The woman admitted that at first, she did not even believe in the sailor’s love, because he was terribly charming. A few months after their romance, she discovered she was pregnant.
I thought that he should be the first to know about the pregnancy, but he said that he had nothing to do with it.
The sailor turned out to be not only charismatic but also quite cruel. At trial, according to Hazel, the man convinced the jury that all his friends met with the girl. Finding no support, the nurse decided to start a new life in London, but she refused an abortion, which was offered to her at her place of work.
On February 19, 1961, the girl gave birth to little Kenneth and began to privately look for a new family for him.
I just wanted him to be warm and affectionate.
In the next few years, Hazel’s life improved, she got married and had two children, and after a while, together with her youngest daughter Angela, she began her long journey in search of her first son. The woman turned to local television for help, and in 2015, journalists managed to track down the man. True, his fate turned out to be completely different from what his mother thought.
At that time, Kenneth was already homeless, he had serious problems with alcohol and a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia. The man admitted that all these years his life was not going well.
I have been in not very good places, and my life was the same. I had a psychological breakdown, took heavy medication, and became homeless. I lost my job, lost my teeth. If things had continued like this, I would probably be dead by now.
The man said that at the very beginning of his journey, circumstances were different.
I was very close to my foster mother, she was caring. My father drank heavily and from time to time became simply unbearable. It was pretty hard, and then, as a child, I started drinking. A liter of vodka a day was normal for me. Then I literally fell apart – I began to hear voices, and I became so lonely. It was the hardest time because I had no one to talk to.
According to Kenneth, he could not believe his ears when he found out that his own mother was looking for him.
I just fell down and cried. I was so scared. I was worried that they would not want to see me when they found out in what conditions I live, but everything went differently. I had no future, I felt miserable. Now I have everything I need.
Hazel admitted that she was not at all worried about the possibility that her biological son might have a mental disorder.
I didn’t worry. I worked in medicine and knew how to deal with all kinds of illnesses, both mental and physical.
But the family was in for a pleasant surprise: it turned out that the man was not schizophrenic. Now Kenneth has a job and he got rid of all bad habits.
I am proud of my son. He survived and did not return to where he was. You can’t change the past, but you can take control of the present.
Now the man calls Hazel mom and enjoys his new life.
They saved me and I love them. It’s good that we are together. I now have more than most people.
