Wendy Bryant Gow left Japan when she was adopted more than 50 years ago. Soon, her native country will learn what became of her.
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Despite that, something was missing. “All of my life, I’ve had a feeling I didn’t quite fit in, no matter how much I achieved,” she said. “There’s always been this little space in me that never felt like home was home.” She wondered about the mother she never knew. There were so many questions and so few answers. She searched, but every inquiry left her hopelessly empty-handed. Eventually, Wendy’s dream of meeting her birth mother dimmed.
Read MoreFor Billie and Lee Bryant, Arisa’s arrival was a blessing. Stationed in Japan with the Air Force, they welcomed the six-week-old into their lives. They renamed her Wendy and provided a loving home. The Bryants encouraged Wendy and brother, Stan, also adopted in Japan, to be proud of their heritage. Both excelled in school and as competitive swimmers, where each earned top amateur rankings.
Read MoreISS-Japan and ISS-USA collaborated – finding Wendy and facilitating everything thereafter – communications, the inheritance, and a family reunion in Japan. Answers, long sought, were now at hand. Wendy learned that her father, John, was an American businessman working in Tokyo for a New York-based insurance company. He and Kazuko dated for two years before John returned home, never knowing that he and Kazuko were to have a daughter.
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