Twists & Turns

By Gloria Winkels

Twists & Turns is the story of my life. It begins with my birth. I was taken away from my mother when I was almost three years old and was put into a foster home. I was almost five years old when a loving family adopted me. They gave me a good foundation in life, and they taught me that God is love. My life has been filled with many experiences, both tragic and happy. I invite you to come along with me on my journey, and I will tell you about my adventures and how I was able to cope because of my strong faith. My hope is that my story will be an inspiration for others.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Jul 30, 2019
• ISBN: 9781982230708

Gloria Winkels

Gloria Winkels is a fun loving person who loves life. A couple of her favorite hobbies are reading and writing. Her dream in life has been to write her memoir and leave a legacy for her family. TWISTS & TURNS is the fruition of that dream.

Book preview

Twists & Turns

Gloria Winkels

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Copyright © 2019 Gloria Winkels.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself, which is your constitutional right, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 978-1-9822-3069-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9822-3071-5 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-9822-3070-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019908951

Balboa Press rev. date: 07/15/2019

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

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Let me think, writing a book about my life should be as easy as 1-2-3, right? Well, let me see, maybe, maybe not. My life, as most people who know me would say is full of twists and turns. It’s all those twists and turns that make it interesting, dull or full of excitement; happy at times and really sad at other times.

By the time I had reached the age of twenty-six, I had experienced life in a way that most people don’t experience in their life until they are elderly. But don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining, I believe all that I’ve experienced through the years has made me a stronger person; a more well-rounded person, able to deal with any punches life wants to send my way.

Fortunately for me I’ve always had a positive type of personality, seeing the light side of things rather than the dark, heavy side. To me the glass is half full not half empty. There’s a light at the end of the tunnel and I really think that has helped me handle life better and not turn bitter and resentful.

I do believe that there is a higher being that lives within each of us and is the part of us which gives us strength when we call out for help. You can call this being God, Source, Soul, Spirit. It is the inner presence that although our body will die, that part never dies. I believe we are all on a spiritual journey in which our body is the temple for our soul.

I’ve been in the process of writing my life story for many years and it seems I get to the point where I feel stuck and wonder where do I go next? I am realizing now that I’ve been making something that is not so complicated, complicated. If I keep on procrastinating it will never get written, I’m stopping the flow by not just doing it! It’s time for me to wake up, get real and just write. Like the Nike ad says: Just DO IT! I recently said to myself. So this is it. Here we go….ready or not….here I come. Are you ready??

Chapter 1

My life began on September 26, 1947 when I was born at 7:08 p.m. The records state that I was obviously a premature baby so I wasn’t weighed right away. My Mother was given morphine, barbiturates, and vitamin KI during labor and delivery. It says I had a lusty cry, somewhat dusky; not sure what dusky means. I was normal except that I had four fingers and two thumbs on my right hand, a small one attached to the main thumb. Both were abnormal. I also had a club foot on the right leg. It does say that I weighed 2300 grams, which I think was around 5 lbs. and I was 19" long. I was put in the premature nursery until October 7th and then I was put into the regular nursery and I was able to go home with my Mom on October 13th when I reached the weight of 2575 grams.

The above information I received when I was 55 years old. For many years I only knew the date of my birth and my birth Mother’s name. I always wondered how much I weighed at birth, what time was I born, etc. I was put into a foster home in June 1950, just before I turned three years old. On July 9, 1952 I was adopted and I never had access to the information about my birth.

My biological family finally located me in January 1986, four months after my 38th birthday. I got a phone call around 7:00 p.m. on January 19, 1986. At the time I thought it was a social worker calling me. The person on the line asked me if I wanted my brother to call me or if I wanted to call him. I said to have him call me. I found out later that it was my sister-in-law who had actually called.

A puzzle piece had been missing up to that time, it was so good to find it and put it back into place where it belonged. Many years I had wondered about my real family: were they all short like me?? I will explain more about this later on.

My earliest memories began at the foster home before I was adopted. I recall eating soft boiled eggs a lot, to this day I still can’t stomach eggs with the yolk being soft; the eggs have to be scrambled or hard boiled for me to eat them. In my memory it seems like I had those every day but you have to remember at that time I was only three years old. I love thin pancakes rolled up with butter and sugar on them – yummy. I recall a big round table when I think of pancakes. These may have been eaten at my Grandma’s before I was put in the foster home. This memory I’m not so sure about what time frame it is from.

Then there is the time I invited a big black and yellow fuzzy bumble bee into the house. I guess I must have thought it was so cute as it was little. My foster Mom explained to me that bees have stingers and if you try and catch them they will sting you. So since then I’ve been afraid of all bees! Whenever any bee would come near me you could hear me scream from miles away I’m sure! I would be so scared the hair on my arms would even stand up!

One good memory I have is playing with my dolly and using a big grey real baby buggy to push my dolly around in. I loved that buggy just like I loved my dolly and babies. When it was time for me to pick out some things to take with me when I was going to my new home; I remember asking my foster Mom if I could have the buggy. But she explained to me that she needed to keep it for other little girls to play with, but I could keep my dolly and a few books.

I became afraid of dogs too. I remember being on a big hill and a big dog chasing me. I wasn’t able to run fast enough and it bit me on my heel but I don’t recall if it was a bad bite or just a nip. It was enough to frighten me and for many years; I was even afraid of small dogs.

For some reason I mostly remember bad things that occurred at the foster home. Deep down I must have had some realization that this wasn’t my real home. Kids are perceptive that way even at a young age; they can sense when things aren’t right.

I obviously loved babies too much and that got me into trouble too. A baby girl came to the foster home, she was so darling with curly black hair, and I would try and carry her around but every time I carried her around I would get a spanking for that. You see I was small for my age so carrying around a baby was not safe for the baby. I’m sure the foster Mom felt responsible for the child; if anything would happen it would be her fault.

My foster Mother told me one day that soon I would be leaving their home because I was going to be adopted. She said that meant I was very special because my new family was choosing me to live with them. I can recall that day and the news made me very happy. My own Mommy and Daddy; that would be a dream come true. Not that the foster home was such a bad place; but even as a young child I could sense that it wasn’t my real home, I was just a guest there until someone adopted me. It was a good place to be until that day arrived.

I was 4 years and 9½ months old when my new Mommy and Daddy, sister and cousin came to Duluth to see me and decide if they wanted to take me home with them. I remember clearly waiting in front of a building. I was told later that it was in front of