Trio united at long last

Lindsay Young wanted to give her fiancé a surprise birthday party and a special gift – a missing piece from his past.

When Ray Rehkop arrived at a Tacoma restaurant last Saturday, he met family and friends to help celebrate his 37th birthday. What the Kent man didn’t know was that both his biological parents would be sitting at the table.

Given up for adoption at birth, Rehkop had never met his real mother and father – until last weekend. They had talked on the phone but never shook hands or exchanged hugs.

“I had seen someone struggle with their identity,” Young said. “I just wanted some closure for him.”

Young was determined to find Rehkop’s parents.

With the help of a confidential intermediary who finds and reunites adoptees, Young requested and received Rehkop’s original birth certificate from the state. It contained Rehkop’s biological mother’s name, Tammy Paxton, whom Young immediately found living in Southwest Washington.

Young also discovered that Rehkop’s birth mother and father were Kent residents in 1979 when he was given up for adoption. Both were 15 at the time.

Seven months into her exhaustive search, Young found the birth father, Greg James, a Boeing worker who lives in nearby Orting.

Since then, the three have talked on the phone but had never met in person.

Until last Saturday’s emotional birthday party.

“It was probably the best birthday I’ve ever had. I don’t know what could top this,” Rehkop said. “It was definitely a shock to me. It was really cool to finally find out where they came from and what they look like.”

Paxton and James are grateful for how well Rehkop was raised by his adopted family.

“Everybody was real happy,” Young said of the gathering. “They’re definitely glad that he’s in their lives.”