"Then she said, 'We want to come down and see you, if that's alright with you.' I said, 'Of course.'"
So, on Aug. 6, 2011, the two met for the very first time in Saint Augustine. Jackie had previously sent her mother a few pictures of herself. "I wouldn't send her any because I wanted her to be surprised," Fanning said.
When they finally met, Jackie was seeing her mother's face for the very first time. "We had a good visit and a good laugh," Fanning said. "Her husband, Jerry, hugged me as he came through the door. It was a very relaxed atmosphere."
Jackie said Jerry has been "one of my biggest supporters" throughout the entire search.
"He was really excited for her," said Fanning. "There was a lot of honest talk. Nobody was stiff about anything. It was a miracle. It's still a miracle."
"We're still pinching ourselves," added Jackie.
What Jackie ultimately got was a package deal consisting of three new brothers – two older and one younger -- to go along with her mother. Another of Fanning's sons is deceased.
Meanwhile, Fanning, who is widowed, has added three grandchildren and a great-grandchild to the fold.
"It's wonderful," she said. "I had four grandchildren and now I have seven."
Like mother, like daughter
Jackie said she has never felt any bitterness toward Betty for putting her up for adoption.
"There was always the question of (why). My adoptive parents would tell me stories but, for whatever reasons, none of the stories they told me were true. I never had any bitterness about it because, as a mother, I feel that, if you give a child up for adoption, it's under extreme circumstances. I can't feel bad for anyone who makes a decision based on the information they have at the time."
Fanning said she is proud of the woman Jackie has become.
"I told her the other day that, if I was going to pick a daughter, that would be her," she said.
"She's perfect. She sews. She owns her own sewing business (Jackie's in Ocean Springs). And she cooks up a storm."
The two have learned that they also have a few things in common.
"We drop things a lot and trip a lot," Fanning said.
"When they came down to St. Augustine and I was in the kitchen banging things in the cupboard, Jerry said, 'You sound just like Jackie.' My husband always said that too. He would say, 'Why are you making so much noise?' because I was always dropping a dish or breaking something."
"I think we are a lot alike in certain things, which kind of goes along with the understanding of psychology and sociology and genetics versus your social environment," Jackie said. "We're very similar in our personal tastes as girls."
"They showed up for Thanksgiving dinner wearing almost identical outfits," Lettie White said.
Now that they are reunited, Jackie and Bette plan to stay in touch.
"Absolutely," said Jackie. "We talk for hours and hours. We stay up late talking on the phone. And, before we met in person, it didn't occur to me, that she was an hour ahead of me and I was keeping her up way past what I would consider to be a decent hour."
"It's ok," said Fanning. "You can call me anytime."
Having a daughter, Fanning said, is nice because "you can talk with her about things that you can't talk about with a boy."
Turning toward her mother, Jackie added, "There are just no words to describe how this feels. It's like time never existed. I just feel like I've known you all my life."
Posted with permission from Gulf Pine Catholic, official publication of the Diocese of Biloxi, Mississippi.