Ann Padmos, who gave up her son Jeff Quibell for adoption, saved ornaments for him for 44 years until they were reunited.
Jeff Quibell never knew his birth mother. He’d been given up for adoption at birth, 44 years ago as a baby, and raised in a happy home by adoptive parents Don and Trudy Quibell in Blue Springs, Missouri. He’d always known that he was adopted, but felt no need to search for his adoptive mother.
But four years ago, when his doctor wanted to know his family medical history, Quibell decided to go looking for his birth mother. Finally, he found her.
Her name was Ann Padmos. And she had some gifts that she’d been saving for him—just in case she ever had the chance to see him again.
Every year, since Quibell’s birth, Padmos had bought a new Christmas ornament in his honor. So when she had the chance to meet him, she wrapped up all 44 ornaments individually to give to him.
“I’m sitting here wanting to cry just thinking about it,” Quibell told KMBC News, “it was an evening of a lot of laughing and crying and hugging, oh wow, it was just amazing.”
Now, Padmos will have the chance to give her son presents each year: They talk on the phone nearly every day.