This is the story of how an adopted child found not only his real family, but an extra family and a special place that will always live in his heart. That child was me.

I knew I was adopted early in life and when I was just 18 my adoptive father passed suddenly. As time passed, I became interested in possibly finding out who my real parents were, but there was nothing for me to go on with. When I was 27, I went away to college in Willimantic Connecticut.

One day, among the gear I brought with me to school, I found a book that my mother had secreted into my things. Inside was information on the agency that handled my adoption and how to contact the agency to start the process. I jumped. I called, filled out forms and hoped. A mere two weeks later a woman from the agency called to tell me that my parents request forms had landed on her desk barely a week after mine.

Through a series of letters, I met my birth-father Bo, birth-sister Tryst, Uncle John and mother Patricia. In one letter Bo suggested we meet at a place called Star Island and attend the Natural History Conference together. How could I possibly say no?

Thus, it was in June of 1992 that my Star Island Adventures began. Things didn’t start out well, but they certainly turned out for the best before the week was over. I guess I didn’t plan as well as I should have, and I arrived in Portsmouth only to find that the ferry had already left, and I would have to wait. Luckily my Uncle John stayed behind to help me, and we had a great afternoon getting to know each other. I slept at John’s and we caught the earliest ferry to start the vacation. Ironically, because I missed the boat, I arrived on Star Island to meet my father on Father’s Day 1992.

Words cannot begin to explain how wonderful and amazing everything felt. Since Bo was one of the conference organizers he and I were practically mini celebrities, and I had a whirlwind time getting to meet and greet with all of the fabulous people on the Island. We attended the History Conference classes, went to Chapel every night, played Frisbee, sang songs, played shoe golf, trivia and even beat the Youth Conference in the annual softball game. We had tea in the Parsonage, practiced a song we would sing together at the talent show, did the Island Walkabout and wandered among the roses. I especially loved the fact that Star only had one land line phone and no TV. It made the week feel like stepping back into the past, with all interactions between people face to face.

Everything was magical and I knew right then that I would return to Star Island. I made many new friends, people I would see on the Island year after year, and even a few that I visited in the following years. I attended the Natural History Conference every year from that heady introduction in 1992 through the wonderful year of 1998 and even a return half week in 1999.

In 1994 I began attending with my future wife Jane and we attended 5 conferences together. I proposed to her on the rocks of Star Island. Then life and jobs and budgets got in the way and the yearly tradition came to a temporary close. We would return to the Island in 2015 with Bo and John and family. The Island still had a special feeling, but it had changed. Faces were unfamiliar, rules had altered some of the activities and there was the blight of cell phones everywhere. But the magic was still boundless. There was beauty and warmth and love and the memories were endless and thick.

My life wouldn’t be the same without Star Island. My time there brought me hope and knowledge and peace and it especially brought me a great family that I am still in touch with today. Here, at 61, my bucket list might have a lot of crossed off completions, but a return visit to Star Island is right there at the top. It’s my Spirit’s Home and the place where I found a small corner of the world that makes me feel like I belong.