From Chicago comes the story of a sweet reunion between a mother and son, who despite having met many times, never knew of their relationship.
At Give Me Some Sugah bakery, recently-hired employee Hunter Varmarr is particularly proud of his pound cake. He had always loved stopping in for a sweet treat or breakfast at the cafe, particularly because of the service from the baker behind the counter.
Her name was Lenore Lindsey, and though he didn’t know Varmarr’s name, he knew him as a valuable customer.
But their relationship went far deeper than that. Though neither knew it, they were mother and son.
Lindsey gave up her newborn son for adoption when she gave birth to Varmarr at just 17 years old. Varmarr for his part didn’t know he was adopted until 34. After finding out, he gradually became interested in finding out who his birth mother was, and so submitted DNA for a test.
One day, he received a strange call.
“I was on the phone talking to my friend when a call came through from the bakery,” said Varmarr to the Washington Post. “I was like, ‘Why is Give Me Some Sugah calling me?’”
Even though he was told to expect a call from his biological mother, he didn’t suspect even for a moment any connection between it and the bakery.
The Post heard from Lindsey, who said if she had seen Varmarr’s photo, the shock would have been immediate. Instead, with only a name, the call began with a slow awkwardness that eventually shattered with loud enthusiasm when the lost family members connected the dots.
“When I knew who he was, we just started screaming on the phone,” Lindsey said. “We were beside ourselves,” with Hunter adding “It was just so unbelievable.”
“When I called him, that connection was so immediate. I can’t even explain it. It was just like everything in my heart just broke open,” she said, this time to ABC 7 Chicago.
After a bout of health issues, Varmarr even started working there while Lindsey recovered, having no prior baking experience.
“It’s been a great experience. It further strengthens my faith. You can’t make up for time and days gone by. What you can do is properly utilize the time that you have,” he said.
Along with Lindsey, Varmarr got to meet a long-lost sister, and an extended family to boot, incorporating his own four children into a new network of sweet, sweet, affection.