June 01, 2016
Sometimes the longest of long shots end with a new beginning, even if it takes nearly half a century and a helping hand from the songwriting of Elton John.
Over Memorial Day weekend, Amoreena "Amy" Olaya, a history and English teacher at the KIPP West Philadelphia Preparatory Charter School, reunited with her father a full 43 years after she was put up for adoption in 1974, People reports.
Olaya, who is half African-American and half white, was put up for adoption because, as she later learned, it was considered taboo in the '70s for a white Pennsylvania woman to give birth to a child of mixed race.
But her birth father, 64-year-old DeWayne Moye, gave her a lifelong clue that could link them together: he named her "Amoreena" after the song on Elton John's 1970 album 'Tumbleweed Connection.'
The song's lyrics are believed to represent the yearning for a distant loved one.
Amy managed to connect once with her birth mother but discovered that she had no interest in establishing a relationship. From that point forward, she reserved some doubt about whether she should seek out her father.
If it weren't for a surprise DNA test kit from her boyfriend, Amy might not have even tried. When she submitted the test to AncestryDNA, Amy was linked to her great-uncle, Melvin Steals, who wrote music for The Spinners. Through his family, she was connected to the sister of 64-year-old DeWayne Moye of Palma, Ohio. Just like that, father and daughter were put in touch.
"I named her Amoreena – after the song – because I thought it would be easier to find her one day if she had a unique name," Moye told People. "From the very first day, I've wondered, 'Where is she? Is she happy? Is she healthy? Will I ever see my Amoreena again?' "
Amy, now a mother of two teenagers, says that she loves her adoptive parents but felt she needed to explore her roots after experiencing racial discrimination growing up. For all those years, she said, the soundtrack to her life was "Amoreena."
"[It] sounded like Elton John was singing a vision of my childhood. It was like there was hope that my father would one day see me again."
