I'd seen this same story told on 48 hours, but this was so much more informative and heartfelt; the tragedy of Suzanne's life from beginning to heartbreaking end is told so poignantly and precisely.
One walks away from this and can only feel that her life was so tumultuous- from her ridiculous mother and the affair while the child's father was fighting a pointless war that left him a shell of his former self, birthing two additional children, then marrying and divorcing that man, decides to go it alone and her story goes from bad to worse, ultimately loosing all 3 girls to the state (there's no definitive answer to this, only the pathetic mother offering incredibly poor excuses) to find her falling for this pathetic excuse for a man, who would ultimately dump the two younger girls at an orphanage and embarking on the travesty that became Suzanne's life.
At one point, this adorable and incredibly intelligent girl had the world in the palm of her hand, only to have this monster destroy it again, tear her from a likely successful collegiate career, and turns her again upside down to further destroy what little joy she'd gathered. That she was able to turn her horrific adolescence into a brilliant success speaks greatly to her character, despite the monstrous influence of this horrible, pathetic man.
She eventually finds herself forced into a life she'd never imagined; having children, forced into exotic dancing and prostitution- surrounded at every turn by devastation and depression.
So many people refused to give up, refused to let her fade into obscurity. An author, a retired FBI agent, and an incredibly brilliant group of DNA genealogists combined forces to finally give this girl the name and proper headstone she deserved, in spite of the monster who'd taken it upon himself to destroy her, her son, and their lives.
This story is so wonderfully done and pays tribute to a brilliant star in the sky who was never able to realize the power of her shine. What a complete and total tragedy that befell this child, and it's an honorable group of people that ultimately ensured her death would not be the end of who she was. What a tragedy that even she never knew who she really was, how many people failed her, and hopefully, her daughter lives a long and love-filled life, as a legacy of what her mother was.
