In 1957 at 3 ½ years old, Kim Eun Ja was adopted into a Caucasian family in the US and given the name of Linda EunJa Mayo.  She was told she lived with her mother until she was 2 ½ when her mother felt she couldn’t care for her any more.  She had been in the Holt orphanage for a year prior to the adoption and several times during that year almost didn’t survive.  Her adopted family was a Military officer and a school teacher mother.  They adopted a 15 mo half Korean old boy at the same time. 

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Through DNA with support and help of 325KAMRA, Linda found her biological father who had been an Army Staff Sargent stationed in South Korea.  Unfortunately, he was already deceased and never knew about her birth.  She is still looking for her biological mother but as the years go by it is seeming less likely, but there is always hope.

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Linda married young and had two sons. When they come to visit with her only grandson, all the people with her DNA are in the same room. The first Korean adoptees she met were through the Carolina Adoptee Korean group and her first meeting with other half Korean was very emotional.  To know that others have been through the same although different experience as she did has means so much. 

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Linda earned her Batchelor degree in Business Administration with an emphasis on Accounting after going back to school in her 30s.  She worked for several large corporations and several small companies.  She has owned her own businesses and has engaged in several consulting contracts for smaller businesses.  She retired in 2019 just before the pandemic which was very good timing.  When she heard that 325KAMRA needed some accounting support she decided she could not say no.  The importance of the work that 325KAMRA does in support of adoptees trying to find their roots is beyond important.  Like Linda, many have no idea where to start and supporting this effort in a small way is so important.