Feel-Good Friday: Angel Thomas Transcends Her Past, From Abandoned Baby to President of Her Graduating Class

Happy post-Friday! It’s Mother’s Day weekend, so this Saturday can still incorporate a Feel-Good Friday story.

On Nov. 12, 1999, a baby was abandoned at birth, left under the stairs of an apartment complex in Greensboro, North Carolina. A good Samaritan found the child, and called child protective services. Initially named “Baby Doe,” the baby was later adopted by Carrie and Daryl Thomas and given the name, “Angel.”

Angel Thomas’ story was documented in June of 2019 by Fox 8 News in a series, “Whatever Happened to Baby Doe?”

“I didn’t know everything, but I knew that I had a family that loved me no matter what, even if I wasn’t biologically their child. I’ve always been loved, and when I really accepted that and I really brought that to my heart, there was nothing that could take that away from me,” Angel Thomas said.

Carrie and Daryl were giving Angel a new life, but they didn’t try to erase her past.

They saved news clippings, documents and pictures that captured important details of Angel’s life.

But like any protective parent, they were cautious.

They had to be careful about when and how they told Angel everything.

They had not told her about the circumstances of how she was conceived until it was in the news in 2013.

Angel’s abandonment dovetailed with a 2013 sexual assault investigation. The Guilford County Sheriff’s Office discovered that Angel’s biological mother had been raped and impregnated at 13-years old. After giving birth, she abandoned her newborn daughter. Angel’s father was arrested and convicted for the rape of the 13-year-old.

Even with the love and embrace of the Thomases, it was a difficult road for Angel to walk.

“I had to put her in counseling to help her get through it, but it was rough. It was really rough for her,” Carrie Thomas said.

Angel made it through, participating in youth and leadership development programs through middle and high school. Angel also began participating in beauty pageants, winning Miss Teen Greensboro in 2018, and first runner-up in the Miss Teen North Carolina.

Now 22-years old, Angel just graduated from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University as the president of her graduating class.

With all the noise, foment, and anger from the Left over the reversal of Roe v. Wade, the end to federally-sanctioned abortion on demand, and what the alleged detrimental effects the overturn of Roe will have on rape victims and poor people of color, this story reflects the redemption that can occur when we make the choice for life, and keep encouraging life in its various forms.

Angel Thomas could have died underneath those apartment stairs; learning about her biological origins could have brought more death or changed her life trajectory. But those around her encouraged Life, and Angel continued to make the choice for Life.

Angel had this to say about her journey thus far:

“Through everything that’s ever happened in my life I’ve just kind of kept this attitude of being positive and staying focus(ed) toward the future and knowing that even though your past is a part of you it’s not something that’s ever going to define you.”

There are many other stories out there, including a Pennsylvania U.S. Senate candidate who in a debate, shouted her mother’s choice for Life, even amidst the horror of rape at an age younger than Angel’s biological mother:

I’m the byproduct of rape. My mother was eleven when I was conceived.

In the world the Left desires, I would never have been born.

We need leaders with a steady hand to direct our nation through these difficult discussions.

Help me by sharing my story:https://t.co/JNGw8gNts0 pic.twitter.com/lqzufvxzQR

— Kathy Barnette (@Kathy4Truth) May 3, 2022