Papa Dean’s Popcorn

a popcorn adventure with a twist of adoption

How many successful business ventures have you ever heard of where the two principals were Birth-Mother and Birth-Daughter? Papa Dean’s Popcorn is one such venture as Papa Dean himself handed the 25-year-old poperation over to his step-daughter, Tara and her birth-mother, Katherine. Try and keep up…

In traditional State-run CLOSED ADOPTION, there is always a birth-mother, an infant, and two adoptive parents. The baby is born, the birth-mother goes on with her life, and the newly created family goes on with theirs: records sealed, case closed, denial encouraged, happy ending and usually the end of the story.

No doubt, we’ve all heard of successful reunions usually between the grown child and the grown birth-mother. The stories are often positive; though generally turn out to be a short-lived, well-intended period of deliberate inclusion on both sides which usually dies down after a while and even more rarely is the adoptive mother the impetus for the search and/or reunion.

Here’s a new story: adoptive mother and birth-mother search for each other, meet, establish a connection, and then bring in 19 year-old birth-daughter. Both sides of the families completely integrate over the course of the next 17 years. Birth-mother serves as Maid of Honor in Birth-daughter’s wedding.

Both adoptive mother and birth-mother are present for the birth of birth-daughter’s children. Birth-daughter’s son is ring bearer in birth-mother’s niece’s wedding. Birth-daughter and adoptive mother together, take birth-daughter’s children to visit birth-mother’s parents in another State. …You get the picture.

Birth-mother finally moves to the city where birth-daughter and adoptive mother live, where they all physically see or talk to one another every single day. Birth-mother and birth-daughter become business partners in an established popcorn company in Alamo Heights called Papa Dean’s!

For the rest of the story, you’ll have to stay tuned because as the birth-daughter’s 7 year-old son Louis explains the connection between his mom and her two mothers: “Mimi is my Mommy’s Mommy and Nana Kat…well, she’s just Nana Kat.” Simple, isn’t it?