Junior Brooke Fox only recently found out she was Dutch.
“I finally know what nationality I am: Danish.”
Over winter break Fox met up with her biological father whom she hasn’t had any contact with since she was three-years-old.
“Now is the perfect time in my life for this kind of thing,” Brooke said.
Her mother married Brooke’s adoptive father when Brooke was four and she has always considered him her “dad.” Although some may consider him her “step dad,” Brooke considers him her “real dad.”
“He’s my dad, he raised me. We have a really good relationship,” said Brooke.
“He’s my dad, he raised me. We have a really good relationship,” said Brooke.
She first became curious about her biological father around the age of ten.
“It was kind of like finding out about Santa Claus, I had a feeling my dad wasn’t my real dad. It was a little suspect.”
Her biological father never played a role in her life until now. Except when she would occasionally visit him as a toddler.
“I would like to have a relationship with him,” Brooke said. “Not so much a father-daughter relationship; but more like what you would have with an aunt or an uncle.”
For Brooke, it was about finding out about who she was.
“I felt like I could learn about myself and my past. He was able to explain better why he wasn’t in my life growing up.”
At first her parents weren’t on board with the idea.
“It makes my parents uncomfortable,” Brook said. “It was a hard time in my mom’s life. But I did get their permission, they understood why I wanted to talk to him.”
Her dad was even the first to contact her biological father. When Brooke was younger, her mom kept his contact information, but it was no longer accurate.
“I Googled him, it felt a little creepy. Then my dad called him, so he would know I was trying to contact him and not freak out when I called him out of the blue.”
Brooke says her best advice for someone who is seeking a relative is to have someone else contact him or her first.
“Let them know you’re trying to contact them so it isn’t a super big shock, and they don’t say anything they don’t mean.”
However, for Brooke, this has been a positive experience.
“It’s really cool knowing that you have one more person in your life that cares about you.”
![After receiving advice from her students, orchestra director Judy Erpelding marks her music. Although the director normally makes the artistic decisions, Erpelding will often consult her students and hear their opinions on what sounds good and what they should try out. “[The students] are the heart of the program, not me,” Erpelding said. “I know they will carry that on and I will miss them. Making great music with them, being able to challenge them, taking their inspiration.”](https://www.fsfreepressonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Roust_Erpelding_5_11_23-600x900.jpg)
