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CAMBRIDGE
- For Celia
Nelson and her mother, Florence
Roach, Mother’s Day isn’t just
a special day celebrated once
a year in May, but a special
moment celebrated just about
every day.
Celia Nelson was separated
from her mother when she was
six years old. Her parents, (Red)
Lowell and Florence Koenen
divorced when she was six.
Lowell won custody of Celia and
her younger brother, Vincent,
but eventually left Vincent with
Florence and began an adventure
of travel with Celia, moving
about every year in order to keep
Roach from finding her.
Lowell did a good job
raising Nelson, recalled Nelson
and Roach. There were never
any bad words or feelings ever
said of Florence and Lowell
even suggested Celia find her
birth mother and family. Nelson
thought of her lost family often,
but her life was going well and
she didn’t want to mess up their
family by showing up one day.
However, in Colorado, a sister
that Nelson had a faint memory
of had started an internet search
for her. Belinda and Belinda’s
sister-in-law, Kristine, started
the search at www.ancestory.
com by posting a message that
they were looking for a sister,
Celia Koenen.
Kristine received a message
from one of Celia’s paternal
relatives, Nancy, who saw the
message. Nancy replied that she
hadn’t heard from Celia since
her father passed away in 1993.
This put a damper on the search,
but Belinda didn’t give up. She
responded with a letter of her
own pleading for help in finding
a sister she hadn’t seen in over
35 years.
On December 31, 2003
Belinda posted the message
on the www.peoplesite.com
website and almost immediately
received a response from a
total stranger who was willing
to help. His name was Steve
Mundros. In a matter of days,
Mundros had found a possible
uncle in California. Belinda left
a message on Leon Koenen’s
answering machine, hoping for
the best.
The best happened with a call
from Leon on Monday, January
12 saying he was in fact Celia’s
uncle but hadn’t had contact
with her since 1993. Uncle
Leon knew of a relative that had
contact with Celia and on the
very next day Belinda received
a call from her long lost sister,
Celia. It took five whole minutes
before either of them could talk
but then the talking began.
“I knew something was
going on when the two girls
(Belinda and Kristine) came
through the door,” said Roach
when she heard the news they
found the daughter she hadn’t
seen in over 36 years, “that day
was so special.”
February 6, 2004 the family
reunited after many years of
being apart. Celia, three sisters,
one brother and her mother met
for the first time in over 36 years
for a joyful and emotional three
day reunion.
All the fears each member
of the family had vanished once
they met and all the missing
years vanished with those fears,
as well.
“It turned out great,” said
Nelson. The family immediately
fell in love with each other as
they began to share stories and
laughter.
In fact, Nelson found out
that her husband, Brad, lived in
the same town as her when she
was six. Nelson’s older sister
and Brad were also the same age
and recalled many of the same
small town stories. “I probably
fell in love with him when I
was six even though I had no
recollection of living in Bennett,
Colorado,” Nelson joked.
Shortly after the reunion,
Roach began her visits to the
Nelson Farm in Cambridge. The
farm reminded Roach of her
roots and she loved the visits. The gardening, the chickens
and cows, the open spaces and
rolling hills of Nebraska and the
long talks down memory lane
were enough to keep Roach
coming back each summer.
“I would turn the tape recorder
on and let her tell stories about
growing up in the mountains
of Snowmass, Colorado,” said
Nelson, “she told of family
history and stories of my brother
and sisters growing up.”
“I am very blessed to have
this opportunity to have a great
family, but it has not been
without its adjustment. It took
me awhile to change,” Nelson
continued, “with so much family,
becomes commitment of time
and effort which was not always
easy to fit into my already busy
life, but now it is like we were
never apart.”
Nelson scanned all the
photos Roach shared with her
into the computer and typed in
the names and history of each
photo. Roach was diagnosed
with Alzheimer’s and Dementia
so “preserving the history was
very important to me and to her
to save this before she could
not remember the details,” said
Nelson.
And, for the first time,
Nelson saw her baby book and
baby pictures, which she never
thought could be so amazing.
Roach spent three summers
in Cambridge before the
decision was made to move her
to the Assisted Living facility in
Cambridge in September. “The
other kids got her for the last 40
years,” said Nelson with a smile
as she looked toward her mother, “now it is my turn.”
There was a lot of paperwork
to have Roach moved to
Cambridge and she lived with
Nelson and her husband for
awhile to claim residency, but it
was well worth it to Nelson and
Roach.
“Cambridge is so lucky to
have such a wonderful assisted
living facility and mom is very
happy here,” said Nelson, “I
checked out other alternatives
for her in Colorado so we could
make an educated choice and
Cambridge was as good as or
better than many there.” After almost 40 years of
separation, Nelson and Roach
spend nearly every other day
(if not more) with one another,
now.
“It has been so much fun,” said Roach of the time spent
with her daughter.
“Having a mom here, just
having a mom is a miracle,” said
Nelson, “it feels so good to be
needed. She gave me the gift
of life and I like to return the
favor. I will never take her for
granted.”
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