Discovering The Mature Lifestyle
Finding a sense of wholeness through work, exercise and volunteerism. Page 2
Health & Wellness
January 15, 2015
January Issue
The Journey Plymouth woman finally finds her biological parents Linda Banks of Plymouth played basketball in high school in southeastern Minnesota, achieving the Senior A Squad as a ninth-grader and being part of a district championship team when she was a senior. “I was very athletic for a girl,” she said. “I even learned how to barefoot water ski at age 13, no skis, just my bare feet.” Now Linda may have at least one explanation for her athletic talent. BY SUE WEBBER CONTRIBUTING WRITER long search for her biological parents revealed that Linda Banks’ birth father, Robert Netolicky, who is 6 feet 9 inches tall, had a pro career from 1967-76 in the American Basketball Association. Although she’d always known she was adopted, the story of Linda’s search for her biological parents began when she was 17 and happened to find a letter her biological mother, Cynthia, had written to her adoptive parents. At the time, Linda was living with her adoptive brothers and mother, Betty, in southeastern Minnesota. “My mom and I were at the bank; she was going through her lock box,” Linda said. “I saw an envelope marked ‘For Linda when she’s older.’ After a long discussion with my parents, they decided to share it with me once I turned 18.” “My adoptive parents were good people and just wanted me to be prepared for any emotional implications,” Linda said. The letter that she finally was allowed to read was “absolutely beautiful,” Linda said.
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State University. I wrote lots of letters to doctors and the hospital where I was born, as well as Linn County, Iowa. Since my records were sealed, I had no luck. Having access to the Internet made it easier in the late 1990s and early 2000s.” After Linda saw a Sally Jesse Rafael show segment about an online adoption board, she posted her information in December 2001, and soon heard from a woman via email in Marion, Iowa, who found her information at Linn County and forwarded the name of Linda’s biological mother. “Then I received all my hospital records,” said Linda, who began another search with ussearch.com. “They found Cynthia [her mother] within three weeks,” Linda said. In May 2002 Linda contacted Cynthia, who lived in Chicago at the time. “I called her and said, ‘Does March 24th mean anything to you? I would like to learn about Bob Netolicky and his biological daughter, Linda Banks, had a joyous reunion in November my biological heritage and medical history. 2014. (Submitted photo) If you are uncomfortable I will leave you alone.’” “I was a love child of the 1960s,” she said. “I “My birth records were sealed,” Linda Cynthia was stunned, but excited to decided then that I wanted to find my bio- said. “I started searching for my birth parADOPTION - TO PAGE 3 logical parents.” ents during my college years at Mankato