A Gift From Heaven Found Oceans Apart

In a family celebration held on St. Patrick's Day, a local family experienced a shocking day filled with many emotions that had nothing to do with their event.

A month prior, John and Jennifer Aguiniga of Kimball celebrated their Valentine's Day holiday with a gift from Jennifer in hopes to help John learn more of his mother's family history.

In the process, an even bigger surprise was revealed.

Jennifer had purchased an Ancestry DNA kit for John in hopes of finding family history. Over the course of the next few weeks, John sent the test kit back and awaited the results.

Results no one was expecting.

"It was St. Patrick's Day when John got the test results in," Jennifer said. "He was at work, so when he got home he handed me his phone and said, 'My results are in.'

"When I read them, I said 'John, you have a direct DNA match with a son.' He didn't think much of it because we were getting ready to go to the cemetery for the family toast for his parents."

The message said: "Shared DNA with Stephen Bailey. Predicted Relationship, Parent/Child."

With disbelief, John attempted to wrap his head around this seemingly impossible message.

"There were so many emotions," he said. "The next day, it sunk in a little more that this could actually be true.

"This was a blessing from Mom that came on the day we celebrate for her and Dad. We have angels watching over us."

With all of the many feelings John was experiencing, it was time to address reality and figure out where to go next.

"It was hard I didn't know if I should push or not," he said.

The Aguinigas reached out to Stephen's Facebook profile, only to see that there was a mutual friend in Kimball. Stephen's mom had attended high school in Kimball and was close to John and his sisters during school.

With the help of the mutual friend, John was able to reach out to Stephen in a Facebook message, not knowing what would come of the decision, John waited penitently.

However, it didn't take long for his phone to ring, less than a day after sending the first message. Stephen replied, explained his work situation and that he didn't have the best internet service where he was working. He mentioned that he was excited and would love to learn more about John.

Stephen was over 7,000 miles away in Afghanistan when he learned the news he had been waiting for since he was a young boy, to find his biological father.

After Stephen's reply, John messaged back explaining the reason for taking the test and what he thought the results would explain. He continued to express how overwhelmed he was at first and that this never crossed his mind as possible. John explained how he knew his mom from Kimball and how large of a family Stephen has here.

"You have close to 50 close family members here (Kimball area) and you also have a brother, two sisters, a stepmom, three stepsisters and 13 nieces and nephews," he said. "Our family is very close and my parents have both passed."

John continued in his message to say that he is a hard working man who is very passionate about family.

"I can't imagine what you must be thinking right now, but everything happens for a reason and God's purpose for you and me are both in play," he said.

Stephen once again replied back, telling more details about his life. He explained in the message that he was raised in Frederick, Md., and after high school he joined the Army and became a Green Beret. After deployments to Africa, Iraq and Afghanistan, Stephen worked for a company as a firearms tactics and driving instructor, and he also did some protection work overseas. Currently, Stephen does security work overseas.

Stephen continued to say that he is a huge family guy and how much of a physical resemblance he can see between him and John.

"I am happy to hear that there are a lot of close family and that you have three kids and three step kids," he said. "It made me feel good when you said that 'I Have,' referring to me, when you talked about them."

With a search for years to find his biological dad, and with the help and support of his mom and sister, Stephen has accomplished just that. He looks forward to an opportunity to meet John and the Aguiniga family in the near future.

A shock to all is a simple way to put this story, but the news wasn't out to all just yet. The time came for John and Jennifer to tell their six other children.

According to John, a text was sent out to all the kids asking them to meet, and that he had something to tell them in person. Of course, this news was the last thing on their minds.

Once all were in the same room, John and Jennifer opened a trash bag full of seven blue balloons - one for each child, plus one for Stephen.

"The first thing out of the kids' mouths was 'Dad's having a boy'," said John.

The new twist to the Aguiniga story will with no doubt include many different emotions for all involved, but hopes are that even with some of those questioned feelings only good will follow.

Will Stephen be able visit his new-found Kimball family soon or will the wait continue?