Awesome - When This Couple Heard A Child Was Dumped, The Wife Said, “I Bet That’s Our Baby”

 

When this couple heard a child was dumped at a Church, the wife said, I bet that’s our baby. Darlene and Ron Liknis were in a car on a summer’s day in 1968. Suddenly, a story on the radio caught the her attention. On the steps of a Minneapolis Church, an abandoned baby had been found by the Church janitor. Then, with tears in her eyes, Darlene nudged her husband and said, I bet you that’s our baby. It was July 7, 1968, and Darlene and Ron were traveling with their four biological children when they heard the news story, and it seemed to affect Darlene profoundly. Though she knew nothing about the baby, she felt that she had to adopt him into the family also.

The baby, nicknamed Baby John Doe, was left abandoned on the hard steps of Mount Olive Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was in the early hours of a Sunday that the baby was found. The infant was wrapped in just a few sheets of newspaper. The baby was only hours old when he was found by a Church janitor. The janitor believes that the baby was, in fact lucky to survive. In a newspaper article published the following day, he was quoted as saying, I was happy to find him because if the dogs had come, he might have been killed. The origins of the baby were never discovered, and all that Darlene and Ron knew of the abandoned infant was what they had heard on the radio and read in the press.

Nevertheless, Darlene strongly believed that the baby should become part of their family. When Darlene saw the child, she was smitten and it would be the beginning of their life together. In an interview with Kare Eleven, she said, he had all this curly hair. He looked like he didn’t have a clue what was going on, just that little expression on his face. She was so taken with the baby that there was one factor that she completely overlooked.

While the couple were white, the baby was mixed race. As Ron told Kar Eleven, I just thought it was so neat that this was our baby. Wow, it felt good. I never thought of skin color. No, it was never a thought. He was our child. But just because they wanted him didn’t necessarily mean that they could have him. It was 1968, after all, and although the Supreme Court had declared segregation as unconstitutional that very year, it would be a further two years before it was made illegal. Darlene then must have faced an uphill battle to bring what she believed to be her baby home. Darlene and Ron, however, were undeterred. Skin color simply wasn’t an issue for them.

All that motivated them was the love that they had for the child who had captured their hearts. Though she wasn’t the woman who gave birth to him, Darlene wanted to be the one to give the boy to be named Dan a happy life. Darlene and Ron never made it a secret that Dan was adopted. Indeed, it’s not a fact that they could really hide. Realizing that he was different to his siblings at a young age, Dan explained to Kare eleven, I knew at three years old.

It’s like, how come I’m dark? And they explained to me right away. The Lichenss family, however, is built on love and acceptance. As well as Dan, who was of mixed race. They adopted another son, who was African American. Both adoptions occurred through the Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota, the mission of which has been to make life better for the state citizens since 1865. It’s a pledge that Darlene and Ron were committed to in raising their two adopted sons alongside their four biological children. And although his adoptive parents were always open and honest about his start in life, the only other details that Dan knows about his origins are what was written in the newspapers in 1968. What’s more, Dan still has a newspaper clipping from one of these reports published the day after he was found. In one image in the piece, he is shown being cradled by a nurse. Meanwhile, the words of the janitor who found him that he might have died had he not been found resonate with the now 48 year old. That statement has been one of my drives for life, Dan told K. A. Re Eleven. I’ve been very fortunate.

My whole family made sure I know where I came from. Indeed, his race and identity may not have been an issue growing up. His mum believes, however, that his abandonment might have been. I think Dan struggled with his being left on a Church step, Darlene told Kar Eleven. It would be a tough start in life for anyone to deal with. However, 48 years later, an eerily similar incident would occur as history seemingly repeated itself in January 2017. On the evening of January 4, a janitor for the Cathedral of St. Paul was locking up for the evening.

He saw what he thought was a basket of dirty clothes, which he assumed belonged to a churchgoer, and he carried on with his chores. However, when he returned, the basket was still there. The janitor approached the basket and heard a whimpering noise, which he imagined might have been a dog’s wine. When he lifted the covering, however, he instead found a baby. When Dan heard the report of the abandoned child, he found that it resonated with him. It was almost exactly the same as his own story, after all. My first reaction was that I knew it was going to touch Danny, his mom told Kare Eleven.

But it touched Dan in a more profound way than merely reminding him of his past, much like how his mom had felt upon hearing about baby John Doe on the radio that day, Dan himself felt a connection to the abandoned child. With his girlfriend’s support, Dan dreamed of adopting this child and Dan now sees his start in life as a display of love. He was abandoned in the one place that he would be safe. He goes back to the Church annually to leave flowers there on his birthday. My family is incredible, Dan explained to Kar eleven. I’m the one still searching for greatness. Perhaps he believes that his true moment will come with adopting this baby. As he explains it’s how you overcome the difference that makes a person. I believe if you do good, good will come back.