Brothers unite after 35 years

It has been a magical Christmas season for Mike Babich, who got to reunite Sunday, Dec. 13 with one of his older brothers whom he has not seen in 35 years.

Mike, 58, of Sebring, has spent most of his life living in either institutions or group homes away from his family. He has a learning disability and has been living in a group home with Ridge Area Arc since 1980.

It was not until about five years ago, that Mike's then support coordinator Johanna Souther and former Ridge Area Arc case manager Linda Correll started to search for his family members.

"I remember looking in his DCF (Department of Children and Families) files to try to find the family members he kept talking about," Souther said. "It was a shot in the dark, but I tried the white pages on the Internet and found a Peter Babich in California and Jesse Babich in Jacksonville, Florida."

Souther and Correll worked on sending letters to the brothers to see if they were Mike's family. Although a response was never received from Jesse, Peter did respond to confirm he was Mike's brother. He also confirmed that Jesse was Mike's brother. For years Ridge Area Arc staff sent e-mails back and forth to Peter so Mike was able to communicate to his brother.

"Mike has told us for years about his brother Peter Rabbit," Ridge Area Arc Queen Palm Group Home Manager Lisa Williams said. "We did not know if he was still alive until Jo helped us find him."

Williams was so excited when she received an e-mail a few weeks ago from Peter saying he was going to be in Tampa for a business meeting and wanted to come a day early to drive over to Sebring to see his brother. "I could not believe it. We were so happy for Mike."

"We had the day on the calendar marked to help him know when his brother was coming," said Christina Cooper, Mike's new case manager at Arc.

As the day drew closer, Mike got more and more excited. He could not stop talking about his brother coming to visit.

Peter arrives

Sunday was the big day of Peter's arrival.

Mike, a country music and race car fan, pulled out his best dress pants and a country western shirt to dress for the occasion. Mike lives in a group home with seven other men on Queen Palm Avenue. The residents had already planned to honor their guest with a feast fit for a king. The group home staff prepared a lunch for Peter and the residents.

It was 11:30 a.m. when Peter pulled into the driveway. He walked to the door bearing Christmas gifts for his brother. He was eagerly greeted by Mike and all the residents. Hugs were exchanged and joy filled the air.

"Look at Mike, he can't stop smiling," Williams said with a smile herself.

It was obvious from the grin that stretched from ear to ear on Mike's face that his life was complete. "That's my brother," he would say as he introduced him to guests.

"He's going to take me to California some day," Mike said. Mike has never been to California.

Peter lives in Poway, Calif., with his wife. They have four children and five grandchildren. Peter is a business consultant and owns a company called Total Quality Engineering.

"Look what he got me for Christmas," Mike said as he showed off the yellow remote-controlled race car, shirt, batteries and miniature race cars that his brother gave him.

Mike could not wait to show his brother where he was going to place his new model cars in his room. He has collected more than 100 other miniature cars and trucks.

"I play the guitar," Mike told his brother as he pointed at the instrument near his bed. "I like Garth Brooks. He's a good country music singer."

"I was pleasantly surprised," Peter said in reference to Mike's current group home. "I didn't expect to find a clean, well ordered home with Mike emotionally connected to his roommates. The visit gave me confidence that Mike was being well cared for."

Mike's history

Born near Atlanta, Ga., Mike was the youngest of three brothers. Peter, 64, is the oldest brother and Jesse is the middle brother. The three brothers were all born in Georgia but shortly after Mike was born, their parents divorced. Their mother abandoned the boys and their father took all three of them to be raised by the maternal grandparents in Monticello, Fla. They eventually moved to Tampa, where Mike grew up most of his childhood.

"During Mike's first six years of life, his brother Jesse and I were his protectors. Kids can be cruel. Mike was teased and called names. Jesse and I did our best to protect Mike from that kind of treatment," Peter said.

"When I was in seventh grade, our mother remarried and made contact with us," Peter said. Their mother took Peter and Jesse to San Diego, but Mike remained with his grandparents who wanted to keep him.

"I went into the Navy and eventually lost touch with Mike," Peter said.

Mike remembers some of his childhood in Tampa but refers to his grandparents as his parents.

His grandmother eventually died. His grandfather and an aunt made arrangements to place Mike in a state facility known as the Sunland Center since the grandfather could not take care of him any more. A large majority of the Sunland Centers in Florida were shut down by 1983 for various health and safety reasons. Mike then was placed in a group home when he came to Ridge Area Arc.

Mike works at the Ridge Area Arc Resale Store in Avon Park and participates in sports and recreational activities in Special STARS.

Peter remembers that the last time that he saw Mike was when their grandfather died in 1974. "That's a long time ago," he added.

"My future plan with Mike is to remain more connected. It will obviously be a long distance relationship but my intent is to make our contacts more frequent," Peter said. "I also plan to reach out to our brother Jesse to see if he is willing to take a more active role in Mike's life."

As for Mike, he is happy to finally see his brother and he could not have asked for a better Christmas gift.