NEED TO KNOW

After losing her mother to addiction, Kirby Burks turned to ancestry records and social media to search for her family

Her search led her to Arizona, where she met her grandmother and aunt for the very first time

The most powerful moment came when she placed her mother’s ashes in her grandmother’s hands

When Kirby Burks lost her mom, she never thought that heartbreak would eventually lead her to the family her mother had always wondered about but never found.

“My mom always told us that her real name was Michelle Buchanan,” Burks, 28, tells PEOPLE. “She didn’t really want to search for her family because she worried what if they didn’t want any relation with her. We respected that, but it was always something we wondered about.”

The wondering turned into answers years la

See Full Page