Adopted at birth, woman reunited with mother 25 years later

Posted: Aug 12, 2008 05:37 PM PDT

Updated: Aug 12, 2008 05:48 PM PDT


SPOKANE -- A local woman who was put up for adoption as a child 25 years ago was reunited with her birth mother in Riverfront Park Tuesday.

The last time Laurie Eldridge saw her daughter was back in March of 1983. After driving north from California she arrived at Spokane's Riverfront Park Tuesday to meet the daughter she gave up for adoption when she was 17-years-old.

"I gave her to a family I knew that could raise her and protect her and raise her to be the young woman that she needed to be, and now I get to meet her for the first time, she's 25 and I'm very excited."

Now 43, Eldridge has four more children. An adoption website helped her find her daughter Gina last December. Pictures and phone calls have been exchanged until their meeting on Tuesday. A Mt. Spokane High School graduate, Gina says her adoptive parents encouraged her to look for her mom.

"I don't even remember how old I was when they told me. I just as far as I can remember I've known," Gina Jose said.

Today she's married and has a 3-year-old daughter, Nora.

After their nerves settled down following their meeting, the two women talked about the adoption.

"I always wanted to know who my mom was. And so, being able to do this is like a big dream come true for me," Gina said.

"This is more than I expected, this is the biggest happiest, warm feeling, I've had in a long time," Laurie said.

Laurie and her family have plans to stay in town all week to meet with Gina's family and the two are talking about maybe a trip to California soon.

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