Chapter 1 - In the Beginning

January 25, 1954, in upstate New York was another gloomy and frigid winter day. In downtown Rochester, piles of icy snow, filthy from automobile exhaust, road salt, and sand, lined the sidewalks.

As Mrs. Slora, owner of Saeger’s Grill, the neighborhood bar and restaurant located at 218 Clinton Avenue North, tended to her chores inside, she saw a young woman enter through the bar’s side door. Dressed in a long, black coat and a flowered kerchief tied around her head, she appeared very tired. As the young woman headed directly toward the restroom, Mrs. Slora noticed that she was carrying a brown paper bag.

After several minutes had passed, Mrs. Slora realized she’d not seen the woman come out of the restroom. Thinking there might be a problem, Mrs. Slora hurried over to find out if she could help. But when she opened the restroom door, the woman was not to be found.

What she did find, however, was the paper sack the woman had been carrying. It had been placed on the lid of the toilet seat. Mrs. Slora walked over and peered inside the bag. To her utter dismay, she saw a tiny infant, sleeping peacefully.

Bits of dark brown hair flared out from beneath the blanket in which the child had been wrapped. As gently as possible, Mrs. Slora removed the tiny bundle, unwrapped the blanket, and saw that the abandoned infant was a baby girl.

The police came quickly after Mrs. Slora’s phone call. Detective James Martin immediately sent the foundling to Genesee Hospital. Nurses took over. The baby, they reported, appeared to be in good health. In a few days, they would turn her over to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. Soon, SPCC director, Guy D. Harris, reported that his agency would be joining in the police investigation to find the foundling’s mother.

Although not front-page news, the abandoned baby rated high in human interest and ran in the following day’s paper.

While reading the January 26, morning edition of theDemocrat and Chronicle newspaper over breakfast, Betty blurted out, “Bob, look, here in the paper.” She pointed with enthusiasm to an article. “Now there’s a little girl that needs a home. Why can’t we have her?”

Bob leaned over his eggs and toast and quickly read the article showing a photo of an infant girl with dark brown hair resting in the arms of a nurse. Somewhat emotionless, he replied, “Why, that is quite a story. Honey, I don’t know why we can’t have her.” And he went back to reading the business section.

Betty looked at him with frustration. Was that it? He had nothing more to say on the matter? She was distraught and pulled the paper back to her chest. She sat in silence staring at the little face of the baby being fed a bottle by a nurse. Betty’s heart sank as she thought of herself.Will I ever have a little girl of my own? And she felt sad for the little girl.Who