A Secret Life of Mom Highlight Story: Sometimes there are stories that are just too good, too beautiful, or too unbelievable to keep locked away. That’s why we scour the archives and bring some of them back to enjoy again. They may make you smile or shed a tear, but they’re always meant to add a little positivity to your day. Enjoy!
Having a family is important. They provide us with the support and the love that we need. But unfortunately, millions around us have little to no family at all. Sometimes in other situations, the family we have is not the family we want. But a decade back, a girl who was trying to find her dad, didn’t know that she was missing herself. Neither of them had any clue, but they were both looking for the other.
Scott Becker, the father, was looking for his daughter named April. All he knew about her was her birthday. Apparently, she was born on St. Patrick’s Day in 1979. His daughter, April Becker Antoniou, only knew the name of her father and nothing else.
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In such a situation, we need to ask- how did it all get resolved? Well, April had spent years searching for her father online. But ironically, she never came up across the website AprilBecker.com. It was a website created by Scott Becker with the sole purpose of finding his daughter.
On the 4th of November, 2009, April had finally typed, “Scott Robert Becker looking for April”. It was then that she was taken to the website. And there, she found an email from her father. “I’m your Dad and I would really like to talk to ya.” Needless to say, April was in shock. “When that website popped up, I was just absolutely floored.”
How did April know that this was about her? Well, the headline at the top of the website had April’s middle name spelled Joi. Now according to April, “Nobody knows that I spell it ‘J-OI’. I knew right away that that was him.” Her dad, who owns a restaurant in Kiowa, later found an email from her. “I think you might be my dad.” To confirm her identity, Scott also asked, “Are you a green baby?” The reply he got was, “Of course, I’m a green baby.” For her dad, there was nothing that could dampen his happiness. “I was overwhelmed. I’m a happy guy.”
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As a guest in New York for the TODAY Show, Becker reflected on the experience, “I mean it’s been a whirlwind. I’ve gotten well over 2,000 e-mails, from all over the world, and not one of them was negative. They’ve been coming in from Italy, Brazil, France, Russia. All congratulating us on finding each other.”
His daughter mentioned that her children were quite excited about meeting their grandfather. “Brooke especially took a liking to dad. They got along like peas and carrots.” Back in 2009, Becker was hoping that he would have his daughter to celebrate Christmas with. Unfortunately, Becker had last seen his daughter back in 1979, when she was just a baby.
Their separation occurred when April’s mother fled when she was only an infant. “She just went off the deep end and took off.” April, who knew the story, also mentioned, “I know that they had a disagreement, and my mom thought it was best to leave. I blame them both equally for making a poor decision. After 15 or 20 years, I decided I wasn’t going to be angry about it. For a girl not knowing her dad, not having a father figure. Growing up not knowing half the person you are is very hard.” Her dad currently lives in Kansas, while his ex-wife lives in Tulsa.
Read: ‘I Can’t Believe I Actually Found You!’: Birth Mom Reunites with Son after 33 Years of Separation
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The Dad Missed 30 Birthdays of His Daughter
Talking about the incident, April’s father mentioned, “It was 30 years ago. She did what she did. It was what it was. I’m not a guy to hold grudges.”
April stated that her mother had remarried just a short while later. Realizing that her stepfather wasn’t her real father, she started asking questions. Incidentally, her biological father was also looking out for her. Becker had spent close to $40,000 on trying to locate his daughter while April also spent countless hours searching for her dad.
All that hindered them was the surname ‘Becker’. “I spent thousands of dollars looking for her, but I just could never find her. I had a first, middle, and last name, and her birthday. But I didn’t have a social security number. The private investigators couldn’t find her.”
Remember, this was before Instagram existed and Facebook was in its infancy. His daughter’s luck wasn’t any better.
“I tried people finders, but I really couldn’t afford a private detective. I knew a little bit about him from what my mom told me, but I had never seen him. I had two pictures and a wedding announcement in my photo album, and then his name on my birth certificate. I knew how old he was, but I didn’t even know his birthday.” Dispirited, they went on with how they lived.
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All’s Well That Ends Well
Over the years, the desperate dad had received several false alarms and a few scammers, but never the truth. “I hadn’t had a hit on that address in two years.” His daughter had other fears. “You think the worst-case scenarios. Is he alive? Is he dead? If he is alive, is he a bum? Maybe he just doesn’t care. Maybe he’s a deadbeat dad. Maybe he’s very successful- a doctor, maybe, or a businessman or a lawyer. But if he was so successful, why couldn’t he find me? Maybe he had no way really finding me.”
With April turning 30 in 2009, she was about to give up. “This year, I really thought, ‘OK, I’m never going to find him. I’m 30 now, and I probably need to get over it and get on with my life.”
Becker, on his part, was also under duress about his daughter. “I didn’t know what she was going to be like. She could have been a crackhead for all I knew. It turns out she’s a third-grade school teacher with two wonderful kids.” While this dad had missed out on 30 birthdays of his daughter, he wasn’t going to miss out on more. “I’ve got another 30 years to look forward to.”
Another story that proves that one-in-a-million miracles do happen!
Keep Reading: Father who never stopped searching for abducted son reunited after 24 years
Sources
- “Father finds daughter online.” CJ Online. The Associated Press. December 5, 2009.
