I was born Anna Mary Thomas on January 20, 1949. My family lived at 420 Hayes Street, Chester, Pa.
I always had a lot of people around me as my Mother was one of 12 children.
I had an older brother and sister, and a younger brother and sister. I had a Dad that would spend
time with us, and a Grandmother that visited often.
One day in 1954, everyone disappeared. I remember living for a short time with
one of my Uncles (Billy) and his family. I had to sleep on a wooden cot in the
living room of their apartment in Linwood, Pa. My Uncle Billy had me baptized in the
Catholic Church nearby (Holy Saviour Catholic Church, Linwood, Pa.) Shortly thereafter, my Mother
gave me away to a foster home where everyone was a stranger. From that point on, I lived in
several foster homes where I was beaten for crying for my Mother. The last one that I remember was
kind of fun as I got to feed the chickens and ducks in the back of the house.
I remember almost drowning in the pond in the front of the house because I put my foot in the pond and
a huge turtle pulled me in by my big toe. He didn't get away with it because when
someone pulled me out, the turtle was attached to my toe...he later became snapper soup!
These foster parents' names were Curran. Within a few months, I was sent to St. Vincent's Home in
Philadelphia, Pa. This place was great! I had a lot of kids to play with, and the grownups didn't beat
me for crying for my Mother. I loved being there...it really felt like "home". My younger sister was also
placed in St. Vincent's Home around the same time. No one told me she was there until someone wanted to
adopt both of us.
In 1956, we were placed for adoption with John and Florence Golding of Philadelphia. The Goldings did everything
they could to make us happy and to grow up to become the ideal citizens. I really don't want to go any
further into this situation. I knew too much about my birth family, so I could not be the ideal child
they hoped for...I cried my way through the years!
My Favorite Connections
Angelfire - Easiest Free Home Pages
WhoWhere? - The Best Communications Guide on the Web
Matt's Script Archive - Awesome Web Server Scripts
CareerPath - Where Employers and Employees Click
