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On Friday night, I had the honour of spending the evening with Philomena Lee. IIBN hosted a fireside chat at the Avolon headquarters where the 86 year old recounted her incredible life story. Along with her daughter Jane, who helped her along the way, she brought the audience to tears.
She started from the beginning when she was six and was sent away to school after the passing of her mother. She stayed in Catholic girls school until she was eighteen, at which point her aunt took her in. While attending a carnival with her aunt, Philomena met a young man and had “a night of passion,” as she called it. A few months later, her aunt told her that she had gotten pregnant.
“Pregnant? I didn’t even know what pregnant was!
They didn’t teach us that in Catholic school.”
From there Philomena entered a mother and baby home run by nuns, where the baby boy, Anthony, was born. Just over three years went by of Philomena working laundry duty in the home, with very little time allowed to see her son, when he was suddenly adopted by an American family. She never got to say goodbye.
When she was 72, she told Jane about the son she had when she was a teenager, which set the whole story in motion. In her search for him, a journalist got involved, and that is how the book and movie came to be. Unfortunately, she did not find him before he had passed away, but she found out that he lived a wonderfully happy life. She has since met his adopted family, his life partner, and has visited his grave. As it turns out, he had been to Ireland a few times in search of her, but the convent would not release information to him, despite Philomena keeping the nuns updated with her addresses in case he came looking for her. And at the beginning of her search, the nuns also would not release his information to her. It was painful to find this out, that they were both looking for each other but were lied to, but as Jane said, it is a matter of Irish adoption rights that ought to be changed. We can only hope that things improve in the future so this doesn’t happen to other families.
After we all pulled ourselves together, the men subtly drying their eyes and the women wiping mascara off their cheeks, we joined the reception in the Avolon dining area. With delicious hors d'oeuvres, a glass of wine in hand, and a view that kills, the night ended with lots of chatter and laughs. You don’t know networking until you’ve been to an IIBN event.
A special thanks to Philomena and Jane for taking the time to join us and answers countless questions. And thank you to Avolon, the third-largest aircraft leasing company in the world. The headquarters are as beautiful as they come and sitting out on the patio on such a beautiful day was delightful. And the biggest thanks to IIBN for making it all happen. If it wasn't for you, I would have never had the chance the escort the Philomena Lee into a pub and have her insist I try her gin and tonic. What an incredible night. Cheers.