My Sisters’ Keeper

All About Arnold
Sep 2, 2018 · 2 min read
Me, age 18 months.

On September 5th 2002, I spoke to Arnold for the first and only time in my life.

During our 20-minute telephone conversation — I was in Valencia, Spain, he in Chicago — which can best be described as madman’s rant, he mentioned, in passing, that he had fathered two daughters in the years after my birth.

Beth was the older of the two girls whose mother, Lavergne, had married a man surnamed “Brother” or “Brothers” who legally adopted Beth. While he hadn’t spoken to her in more than 20 years, he believed she lived in Elmhurst or Lombard, in Chicago’s western suburbs.

Tina (or Tina Louise), was his daughter with a woman named Inez, though I made a note referring to another woman called Nina Jankowski (as I understood it), so I’m not too certain about which woman might be Tina’s mother.

I also believe one of the women may have been my parent’s neighbor or even a classmate of my mothers at the beauty school she attended.

My search for my half-sisters began in earnest immediately following my phone call with Arnold and has continued — fruitlessly — for nearly two decades.

About ten years ago, a Google search led me to a Tina Sandman with a local north side Chicago address. After inquiring on Facebook whether I had any acquaintances in that area, Lisa, a childhood friend, responded saying she was at work about two blocks away from that location and would be more than happy to walk over there and see what she could find.

An hour or so later, Lisa reported back saying that it appeared a Tina Sandman did in fact live there (her name was still on the bell) but, according to a neighbor, had recently moved away without leaving a forwarding address.

Was that my Tina? I may never know.

    All About Arnold

    Reflections of a man I never knew; a father who never was; and a lifetime of mysteries that would never be solved. By American writer R.M. Usatinsky.

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