I arrived into the Markosky family on November 29,1973. I was only three months old so of course I don’t remember anything, but my Mom, Diana Markosky has shared lots of stories. Her and my Dad, Charles J. Markosky III, got the call from Catholic Charities that they had a baby for them on November 28, 1973. Back then, they waited three months in case the biological mother changed her mind. My Mom and Dad had Dawn Marie in mind for a name for me but when they saw me, my mom said, “No, she looks like a Dana.” Then whoever called my parents from St. Vincent DePaul Infant home asked my mom if they really wanted me. My mom replied, “Of course, we want her!” So my parents went out, got all the baby stuff they needed for me, and brought me home on my mom’s birthday. I came home to my maternal adoptive grandmother’s house, but my parents knew it wasn’t going to be a large enough space for all of us. So my mom and dad found a much larger house that my grandma could move into an in-law suite upstairs, and I would be able to have my own baby room. My parents brought me home, sold one house, bought another house, and got a new car all in the course of what my mom calls, “The week that was!”
The three emotional expressions of Baby Dana Ann Markosky
Mom and Dad didn’t want for me to be an only child. They put in application for another adoption not long after they got me. My mom had several miscarriages before they adopted me and she believed she would never carry a baby to full term. Three years later the social worker who handled my adoption contacted my parents and asked if they were ready to start the process again. My mom had to tell her that she was pregnant. The social worker replied. “I’ll slide your application to the bottom of the bin in case something happens and I want you to call me when the baby is born.” Although Mom did not have an easy pregnancy with my sister, Carrie Marie, she was born as a healthy baby and I had my first sister in the Markosky family. My mom did call the social worker when Carrie was born and she came to our house to visit both of us. I asked my mom if she remembered her name but she doesn’t.
Carrie and I are very different. She was always a tomboy. I was a girly girl. She loved Christmas. My favorite holiday is still Halloween. Now we hold different religious beliefs. We were both raised Catholic, but she is more Christian now. I consider myself to be Universal Unitarian because it is the first all-inclusive religion that I have found. We have had our differences pretty recently but we are trying to work things out. In my heart, despite our differences, I have always loved her. Below you’ll see two polaroid pictures I grabbed from my mom’s pictures of a three year old me, my mom, and baby Carrie. Click on the picture to toggle between them.
Seven years after my sister was born and eleven years after my adoption, my mom got pregnant again. It was a total surprise because she was older. Mom jokingly blamed her pregnancy with Matthew Charles, who was named after both of my grandfathers, on New Year’s Eve wine. My mom’s pregnancy with Matt was complicated by the fact that she had salmonella while pregnant and my brother was born with that in his system. He was born on September 19th, 1984 but didn’t arrive home until the end of September. I’m pretty sure Carrie sold tickets to all of our neighborhood friends so they could visit our new baby brother because they lined up right outside our back door. Click on the images below to toggle between them.
I grew up with one sister and one brother in the Markosky family. I love them both. Growing up, always knowing that I was adopted, I wondered if I had any other siblings out there. I was told my biological father was married when my biological mother got pregnant with me so I knew it could be possible. I wouldn’t discover the truth until after I was married for quite a few years and had a child of my own.