PADRAIC SHAW &
SANDY EVANS 

Still, things happen, and a pregnant teenager found herself alone.  With her parents fighting mental health issues, she kept her pregnancy a secret and put the newborn boy up for adoption.  It turned out to be a wise decision for child, mother and adoptive parents, alike.  But still, there are few deeper holes in life than one left by a missing child.  There’s just not enough empathy in the world to fill a hole that big. 

Still, life went on and Sandy found some measure of relief helping others in difficult family situations.  Working at the Developmental Disabilities Board, she helped people with limited prospects live their best possible lives.  A woman she worked with had an adopted son so Sandy saw how adoption filled holes in other peoples lives.  She registered with some web sites so her son would know she was open to meeting him, if he ever wanted to find her.

Meanwhile Padraic “Paddy” Shaw was growing up in a loving family about 6 miles from Sandy’s Canton home.  His sister was also adopted and they were raised by two Catholic parents who gave them rich, full childhoods.  There was never a reason to wish for anything more.  Still they wondered about the circumstances surrounding their births in ways kids with biological parents didn’t.  Paddy was certain his birth mother hadn’t let him go easily, but his sister wasn’t so sure about hers.  It was just the way they felt growing up.  When he was 25 his sister and her own young child were killed in a traffic accident.  Suddenly life felt more fickle and Paddy had another hole to fill in his life.  He thought about looking for his birth parents, but an article in Rolling Stone made him question if it was a good idea.

Seventeen years later, while working at a small manufacturing company in Dover, Paddy introduced himself to the new receptionist who’d also been adopted as a child.  She had recently found her birth parents and showed Paddy how easy it was to start.  He sent a form and some money to a government office in Columbus.  In return he got a name.  Encouraged by his fellow workers he began to search.  The HR Director used some professional tools to narrow the search to three potential women.  One was someone his mother had once worked with named Sandy Evans.

One summer day Sandy was getting ready to take a developmentally disabled man to Washington D.C.  He was non-verbal and often required hospitalization when traveling, so she knew it would be a difficult trip.  She checked her email just before leaving and an unusual message caught her eye.  It was from the HR Director at a company in Dover wondering if she might be the woman who’d given an infant boy up for adoption over 40 years before.

Imagine free-falling from an airplane, unsure if your parachute will open, but still needing to take care of other business while you fell.  This must have been the way Sandy felt as she took care of her professional responsibilities before returning to Canton three days later.

Soon Sandy and Paddy were meeting outside Muggswicz Coffee House in downtown Canton.  Mother and son walked and talked for hours before heading inside.  If you had asked either how to compress a lifetime into just a few hours, neither would know how to answer.  They figured it out together.

It has now been six years since Sandy met her grown son.  They’ve discovered enough coincidences in their lives to wonder about the relationship between nurture and nature.  Both love baseball, and enjoy seeing games together.  Both have run marathons.  Both like yoga.  Both love art, so often take classes together.  We found them in Mallory McCrea’s photography class.

Sandy is Paddy’s natural mother.  But the mother who nurtured him for over 40 years is MaryAnne Shaw.   She had the honor and joy of raising a boy with enough room in his heart for two mothers.  All because a scared pregnant teenager had the courage and wisdom to know what was best for him.  And, when the time was right, she was there.