Many times memories are created on a whim. A whim, however, landed a Tomball woman a family she never knew she had.

Lori Ann Wallace, the chairperson for the Tomball Planning and Zoning Commission, has known she was adopted for decades. She had always been curious enough to learn more about her biological family, but there was always one obstacle in the way.

Her fear.

Photo: Tomball’s Lori Wallace (right), chairperson of the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission, recently found out she has siblings she never knew about. After learning about her siblings, she traveled to Mississippi to meet sister Traci Duncan (left) and brother Jim Watt (middle) for the first time.

She was always afraid to take the massive amount of steps usually needed to find out more about her biological family for fear of the unknown.

“I thought about (her biological family) a lot,” she said. “I never completely wanted to open it up though, because I was afraid it could mess up other people’s lives.”

On a whim and armed with her biological mother’s name, Wallace, who has lived in Tomball for 11 years, posted on an online adoption site. Her sister, Traci Duncan of Kosciusko, Miss., found her.

“She sent me a really cool, middle-of-the-night email,” Wallace said. “In really big letters it said ‘I’m your sister, call me’.”

Lori was adopted immediately after birth, while Traci was adopted at six months old.

It didn’t stop there, however.

While talking with Traci for the first time, Lori found out she had another sister, Whitney Kokalis of Kemah and a brother Jim Watt of West Palm Beach, Fla.

All four have the same mother, but not all were adopted. Kokalis lived with her mother until she was eight, while Watt lived with his father near Biloxi, Miss.

“It’s kind of a completed feeling,” Wallace said. “Traci and I are two peas in a pod. We are so alike in most of the important things.”

Wallace, whose husband, children and grandchildren welcomed the news with open arms, recently traveled to Duncan’s home in Mississippi to meet Watt and Duncan for the first time.

Wallace said that not long into their initial meeting they learned that they all share several big obsessions - a love for reading, a fondness for animals and a zeal for water.

Wallace said she plans to go back to Mississippi very soon, as she also learned that she and Duncan both have grandchildren of similar ages.

As for her fear of the unknown?

“I was afraid, but it’s turned out to be a huge blessing.”

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed