I was dancing the polka with a one-legged fat man. We were breathless as we whirled around the room. Though I could not see his face, I knew he was my father. How could I know he was my father? I had never met him.

I jolted awake from my dream, heart throbbing as I told my husband, Jon, "I think God wants me to search for my father." My life changed forever from that moment as I began in earnest my search for clues to my southern father's disappearance.