I Once Was Lost

(“I Once Was Lost” is a personal account of Antwone Quenton Fisher, taken from Reader’s Digest, Sept 2001. Following is the summary of the text.)

Antwone Quenton Fisher grew up in foster home and later served in the U.S. Navy. After his service, he worked as a security guard at Sony Pictures Entertainment in Los Angeles. Until the age of 33, he had no family and knew none of his relatives. The little information he had about his parents included his father’s name, Edward Elkins, who had died before he was born, and his mother’s name, Eva Fisher. For some time, he had been searching for his parents’ relatives.

One day, Antwone looked through a telephone directory and randomly selected a name with the surname Elkins. He made a call, and a woman named Annette Elkins answered. When he asked if she knew anyone named Edward Elkins, she replied that he had been her brother but had passed away long ago. Antwone introduced himself as Edward’s son and shared more about his life. Annette told him that if he truly was Edward’s son, he had a large family. In addition to Edward and Annette, there were two more sisters and two more brothers.

Shortly after that, Antwone’s another aunt, Eda, called him and they had a pleasant conversation. The Elkins family was delighted to learn about him and invited him to meet them on Thanksgiving Day. Antwone then spoke to his supervisor and managed to get leave from work.

When the Elkins family saw Antwone, they were surprised by how much he resembled his father. This strengthened their trust regarding his identity. Antwone was overwhelmed with love and warmth shown by his newfound family. Before long, they also discovered that Antwone’s uncle Spinoza had an old friend, Jess Fisher, who turned out to be Antwone’s maternal uncle, and that Antwone’s mother, Eva Fisher, was still alive. Antwone went to meet his uncle and his mother. However, he was heartbroken to find Eva living in a dimly lit, shabby, isolated room and in poor health.

When Jess introduced Antwone to her, Eva was shocked – his striking resemblance to Edward made her momentarily believe she was seeing her late lover. She got emotionally moved but was soon filled with shame and, crying, ran away. Antwone later learned about the hardships his mother had endured after giving birth to him. She had once hoped to marry a good man who would support her in reclaiming her son from foster care. However, life did not go as she had planned. Worse things happened later in her life and for various reasons she got hospitalized, and even put in prison and on probation. By the time Antwone met her, she was psychologically shattered, frail, and appeared far older than her actual age. Seeing his mother in such a desperate state and learning about her painful past made Antwone very sad. He returned with heavy heart and saying goodbye to Elkins when he finally left for Los Angeles, he cried bitterly in the plane.

Back at work, Antwone shared his story with his supervisor, who found it deeply moving and passed it on to others. It soon reached filmmakers, who approached Antwone with a proposal to turn his life story into a movie. While he agreed, he insisted on writing the script himself. The producers dismissed it doubting his ability to do so. However, one producer, Todd Black, believed in him, and with his support, Antwone began writing the script.

Antwone is now married and has a daughter. He says that one day, his daughter, Indigo, will learn his story and understand why it is so difficult for him to be apart from her and her mother, even for a single night. This reflects how deeply Antwone values his family. After years of feeling lost, he has finally found himself and reconnected with his biological family. Having spent 33 years without one, he now understands the true importance of family. Thus, this text is a deeply personal account of a family reunion and the profound significance of family bonds.