In late 1953 or early 1954, a young woman was sent to Los Angeles from Arizona. She was 24, Catholic, Hispanic, had a certificate in teaching, was an accomplished pianist – and was single. She was sent to Los Angeles either to stay with family in Los Angeles or go to a home for unwed mothers and on April 22, 1954, she gave birth to a healthy baby girl at St. Anne’s Hospital. That child was me, signed over for adoption and sent to a foster home until I could be adopted.
George and Carmen Flores, a married couple, wanted to start a family and had tried to have children. They applied to adopt a child through Holy Family Services Adoption Agency, were interviewed, and were accepted. Now it was just a matter of waiting for their baby. About four months later, George and Carmen received a call to go see a baby girl (me) who was waiting for them. They arrived at the foster home and as they walked up the walkway, they saw and heard all the children laughing and greeting them as “Tricia’s new mommy and daddy.” They dressed me in a cute little light green Swiss polka dot dress. From that day on I was Patricia Anne Flores. My mom says that she felt overjoyed as if she had actually given birth to me. Three years later, they also adopted a boy, Gregory, a brother for me … and 5 years after that had a baby girl, Juanita. We grew up in Norwalk, and I remember getting together with other HFS families who lived nearby.
I’ve always known I was adopted. It was just something that was accepted but not really discussed. I am their child, and they are my mom and dad. They gave me everything I’ve ever needed as a child: a belief in and love of God, good strong Christian values, a great education, a love of country and community, and a positive attitude toward my life.
I am 70 years old now, and I have been blessed with an interesting life. I had an excellent education, attending St John of God in Norwalk, St Joseph’s Academy in Lakewood, and a few colleges/universities. I joined the U S Navy to see the world and get even more education, and I lived in Spain. In 1984, I met my husband, who was also serving in the U S Navy, and we have been married since 1986. We have been blessed with 2 sons and 5 grandchildren. We are currently retired and travel whenever and wherever we are able to.
I was able to find out about my biological family through a combination of a DNA search and the information my mom had from the social worker. I now have another brother 2 more sisters and scores more cousins! A few of us keep in touch and visit regularly.
But the best part is that my mom is almost 100 years old and still remembers all about the day she and dad got to pick up their baby daughter.
