My life was finally stable — a successful business, a routine, a quiet sense of peace. Then a weathered, unmarked package showed up on my doorstep on a rainy Tuesday, and everything changed. Inside was a photo of a baby with a birthmark identical to mine, a picture of an old, overgrown house labeled “Willow Creek,” and a letter saying the box had been left with me at the orphanage — and only just rediscovered. You see, I grew up in foster care. No real home,

no family history — just bits and pieces I tried not to think about. This box cracked that door wide open.I became obsessed with finding that house. Months turned into years, and eventually, an investigator called: “We found it.” The house was in a remote town, falling apart,covered in vines — but it matched the photo exactly.

Inside, I found a cradle and a faded picture of a woman holding a baby. Beneath it, a letter from my birth mother: “I’m sick. I can’t care for you. I hope you find a better life. I love you.” I broke down. In that moment,

everything I’d tried to bury came rushing back — not just the pain, but the need to understand where I came from. So I did something people thought was crazy: I restored the house. It took a year, but I brought it back to life. I kept the cradle.

I framed the photo. And for the first time in my life, I felt like I belonged somewhere. The house wasn’t just wood and nails. It was my history. My home. My beginning.