A man who spent 50 years wondering who his biological father might be before tracking him down “just in time” shared a beautiful first hug with him in the hospital as his dad battled stage four cancer.
Glenn Ross, 54, from Paducah, Kentucky, saw his parents separate when he was young, and so he spent time between his mom’s and father Wesley’s houses.
Wesley was a stable figure of love and protection in Glenn’s life – but as he grew older, Glenn began to question whether Wesley was his biological father, having heard rumors
Glenn did not pursue these hunches due to his closeness to Wesley, family members said, but after Wesley passed in 2020 – and having not spoken to his mom in more than three decades – Glenn and his family decided to investigate his history.
An initial DNA test came back with no answers, but in 2023, Glenn’s daughter, Hope, took a test for fun and found two distant cousins.
The family stayed up many evenings, looking into the likes of great-great-grandparents and their siblings, and they came to one conclusion: Glenn’s biological dad was still out there somewhere.
After tracing different family lines, Glenn; his wife, Deidre; and their children – Jermiah, Jonathan and Hope – traced their ties back to a pair of 10 siblings from the early 1900s, eventually narrowing down Glenn’s possible father to five different men, all in central Alabama, where he had grown up.
From obituaries, records, and social media, Glenn’s son, Jonathan, eventually came across the Facebook page of Jack Hendrix, who had an uncanny resemblance to Glenn in his picture.
After a few weeks, Glenn built up the courage to write Jack, 83, from Spring, Texas, a letter containing his phone number, which he sent via certified mail.
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To Glenn’s surprise, not only did Jack reach out – he said that he was unaware he had another son and was thrilled at the news.
The pair connected over the phone and were planning to one day meet in person, but when Glenn heard the news that Jack had cancer, which had spread and reached Stage Four, he and Deidre drove nearly 12 hours to Texas so that the father and son could meet for the first time.
In an emotional video, which Deidre captured on August 7, Glenn made his way through the halls of Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas, before entering Jack’s room.
As soon as he saw his son, Jack, who was lying in bed, lit up, sharing an emotional first hug with Glenn and a big handshake.
Glenn’s family saw the beautiful moment as happening just in time, as Jack passed away a little over a week later.
Speaking of the first meeting, Jeremiah, who shared the video on social media, said: “It was overwhelming emotionally, just seeing years of answered prayers happening.
“It feels like something out of a movie; you don’t expect happy endings like this in real life.
“I’m so happy for Dad getting to meet Jack and get to know him.
“It also makes me so grateful for Wesley, who likely knew Dad wasn’t his, but didn’t care.
“He loved Dad and all of us just the same until the very end.
“God had a plan in all of this, giving Dad a loving father in Wesley and them bringing Jack into his life when they both needed each other.
“It would have been so easy to ignore this situation, to assume Jack wouldn’t want to meet us and just move on.
“By having the courage to reach out, our lives and Jack’s have been changed forever.
“If you’re struggling with searching for a loved one, or wondering where you come from, don’t lose hope.
“Maybe you’ll find someone there desperately searching for you as well, or maybe you walk away even more grateful for the ones who chose to be a part of your life.”
