Man adopted as baby reunites with long-lost mother, helps her run bakery

CHICAGO (WLS) – A Chicago man and his long-lost mother have a lot of time to make up for after reuniting several years ago. He now helps her run the bakery he was a regular at before learning she owned it.

There’s a lot of laughter coming from the kitchen at Give Me Some Sugah, a bakery in Chicago, as mother and son Vamarr Hunter and Lenore Lindsey work together. The two only discovered they were related a couple years ago.

“It’s the most joyful story and time of my life that, in my senior years, all of this has come together,” Lindsey said.

Lindsey was 17 when she gave up her newborn son for adoption. Hunter was 35 when he learned he was adopted, and years later, he became curious to meet his birth mother. So, he submitted results for genetic testing.

It turned out the mother and son lived in the same South Shore neighborhood, and he was a regular customer at the bakery she owned.

“When I called him, that connection was so immediate,” Lindsey said. “I can’t even explain it. It was just like everything in my heart just broke open.”

Lindsey believes God brought them together. When they discovered their relationship, she was facing a health crisis, which led Hunter – who had no prior baking experience – to take over the bakery. These days, he’s especially proud of his pound cake.

“It’s been a great experience. It further strengthens my faith,” Hunter said.

Now that Lindsey’s health is better, she and her son often work together.

“You can’t make up for time in days gone by. What you can do is properly utilize the time that you have,” Hunter said.

Hunter recently met the sister he never knew and a whole extended family. Now that he knows more about his family lineage, he plans to keep the bakery in the family. He says once he retires, he wants to pass it along to one of his four children.

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