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In a post over on the Mediadomain Board, a poster mentioned the most over-used plot device on soaps: the long-lost child. Well, if not the most over-used plot device on other soaps, the long-lost child and variations thereof certainly is on ATWT. Here, updated, is a post from March 1998 where I listed Oakdale's "Lost Children".
So, as we enter the year 2000, welcome once again to Oakdale, Illinois, the heartland of America. Oakdale: where strangers are treated like family, because there is a good chance that they ARE. Everyone in Oakdale has an unknown or secret child, parent, or sibling.
In May 1992, we were introduced to Lisa's long-lost son Scott. When he couldn't accept Lisa as his mother, Margo confronted him and said "Do you think you are the only person this has happened to?" I laughed, and after reading the list below, you may laugh as well, for Oakdale, Illinois truly is The City of Lost Children.
- Lily - Adopted, her biological parents are Iva and Josh.
- Iva - Adopted, her biological parents were the Carpenters.
- Josh - Learned his father was Cal Stricklyn, not Henry Snyder.
- Aaron Snyder - The son Holden didn't know he had with Julie.
- Abigail Williams - The daughter Holden didn't know he had with Molly.
- David Allen Stenbeck - True father is James and his mother is ???
- Paul Ryan - The son no one knew Barbara had until James first came to town.
- James Stenbeck - Not really a Stenbeck, his mother is Greta Aldrin.
- Gunnar St. Clair - Switched at birth with James.
- Dusty Donovan - Learned Gunnar was his father, not Burke Donovan.
- Margo - Discovered as an adult that John was her father.
- Ian Dixon "Duke" Kramer - The son John didn't know he had.
- Lien Hughes - The daughter Tom didn't know he had.
- Adam - Learned Hal was his father, not Tom.
- Sabrina - Unknown daughter of Kim and Bob.
- Jennifer Munson - Her biological father is Darryl Crawford, not Hal.
- Nikki Munson - The daughter Hal didn't know he had.
- Jenny Wendell - Julie's daughter, whose father may have been the late Linc Lafferty.
- Linc - Discovered his father was Woody Hutchinson.
- Scott Eldridge - The son no-one knew Lisa had.
- Sierra - The daughter no-one knew Lucinda had.
- Betsy Stewart - Discovered that Dan Stewart was her father, not her uncle.
- Dan Stewart - Adopted, learned his biological mother was Ellen.
- Dani Andropoulos - Her true father was Steve, not Craig.
- Steve - Discovered his father was spy Michael Christopher.
- Juliette Hanovan - Steve's long-lost half sister.
- Bryant Montgomery - His father was Craig, not Tonio Reyes.
- Damian Grimaldi - Learned Bettina was his mother, not Orlena.
- Carly Tenny - Turned out to be Rosanna's half-sister, not her cousin.
- Teddy "Ryder" Hughes - Adopted, birth parents were Grant and Joyce Colman.
- Allison McDermott - Her biological mother is her "sister" Emily.
- Beatrice - Learned that Duncan was her father, not her brother.
- Melinda Gray - Unknown daughter of Bob's late wife Jennifer.
- Lord Stewart Cushing - Unknown son of the late Paul Stewart.
- Samantha Markham Anderson - Royce's unknown twin and Lucinda's half-sister.
- Baby Snyder - The child Meg miscarried. The father turned out to be Josh, not Tonio.
- Royce Keller - Lucinda's long-lost half-brother.
- Neal Alcott - Lucinda's long-lost half-sister.
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- Connor and Evan - Unknown grandchildren of Lucinda's late husband, James Walsh. Also, Evan's mother tried to convince him his father was Alexander Cabot.
- Kirk McColl - Learned his mother was actually his father's housekeeper, Dorothy.
- Hutch Hutchinson - Learned his late mother was alive and was cookie maven "Aunt Mary".
- Georgia Tucker - Daughter no one knew Samantha had.
- Eddie Silva - Learned that Alec Wallace was his father.
- Parker - His father turned out to be Hal, not John.
- Hope - The unknown daughter Andy Dixon.
- Faith Snyder - Switched at birth with Hope.
- Camille - She does not know who her father is.
- ??? Baby Stenbeck/Walsh - The child of James and Lucinda who might be David, someone else, or may have died at birth.
Two children I would love to add to this list are Caleb and Ellie Snyder. When the Snyders were introduced, Emma had only FOUR children. I still recall the scene when Emma told Iva she was adopted. Emma said that after she had Seth, she was told she couldn't have any more children, so Iva was adopted. Then Emma later gave birth to Holden and Meg. No mention was made of Caleb or Ellie. Suddenly the never-mentioned Snyders returned to the farm from Chicago. It took me a year before I could stop screaming at the TV set, "Emma has only four kids!"
And what about Jack Snyder? He and Caleb look an AWFULLY lot alike to be only distant cousins. Hmmm...
And is Daniel Stewart Hughes really Tom's son or is he David's? Time will tell.
I haven't listed the stories of the AW characters that have appeared on ATWT. Let's just say they would fit right in.
In Oakdale every year brings a new lost-child or two. Talk about overkill.
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