After nearly two decades of waiting and wondering, a mother was given the birthday surprise of a lifetime, when her daughter tracked down the son she had to give up for adoption 18 years earlier.
Tammy Oswalt, from Orlando, Florida, was already a single mother to two young girls and on the brink of homelessness at the time she was expecting her third child.
In an attempt to provide him with the stable home and loving family that she at the time could not offer, Tammy, now 53, made the painstaking decision to register her baby for adoption.
Happy: Tammy Oswalt (right), from Orlando, Florida, was reunited with her son Dylan (left) last month, 18 years after registering him from adoption
Past: The mother, now 23, was already a single mother to two young girls and on the brink of homelessness at the time she was expecting her third child (pictured with her as a newborn)
The mother spent the next 18 years racked with uncertainty and struggling with guilt.
But as she was celebrating her 53rd birthday with her eldest daughter Samantha on September 20th, Tammy found out during dinner she was about to receive a gift ‘that money can’t touch’.
Samantha, who has already become notorious for the ‘incredible’ presents she’s surprised her mother with over the years, then told Tammy that her gift this year would be the presence of her son, Dylan.
Tammy had not seen Dylan since giving birth to him. Stunned by her daughter’s claim, she turned away to compose herself, in a moment captured by Samantha during a Facebook live stream.
Then, it was time for Tammy to experience a milestone she had spent two decades dreaming about: holding her son in her arms once again.
Surprise! Tammy’s eldest daughter Samantha (right) tracked down Dylan and had him come over during her mother’s 53rd birthday dinner
Milestone: As if making up for lost time, without hesitation, Tammy stood to pull her son into a loving embrace (pictured), repeating ‘Oh my god!’ several times
Reunited: ‘The moment I looked back and saw him, so much ran through me. There was so much love, I just wanted to hold and kiss him,’ Tammy said of Dylan (pictured as a baby)
As if making up for lost time, without hesitation, Tammy stood to pull her son into a loving embrace, repeating ‘Oh my god!’ several times, before telling him he’s ‘absolutely beautiful’.
Tammy later acknowledged that Samantha’s surprise surpassed anything she could have imagined.
‘Last year Sammy had surprised me with tickets to see my favorite band, ACDC, so I was kind of in a “wait for it” moment to see what wonderful thing she’d arranged for me this time,’ the mom said.
‘As soon as she said about it being something that “money can’t buy”, something in my heart knew what was about to happen and I was so afraid to turn around.
‘The moment I looked back and saw him, so much ran through me. There was so much love, I just wanted to hold and kiss him.
‘Finally, the peace I have craved for in my heart was now right in front of me.
‘I felt whole for the very first time, since I last held Dylan in my arms.’