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NBA icon-turned-business man, Earvin “Magic” Johnson (59), has been married to his wife, Cookie Johnson (59), since forever. They’ve had a ton of highs and lows throughout their marriage, with one of the most extreme lows being the time he was diagnosed with HIV 27 years ago, in 1991. One of their highest of the highs came three years later, when they decided to adopt their beautiful daughter, Elisa Johnson,  in 1994.

For the longest time, many never realized that 23 year old Elisa was adopted, nor that her mother, Cookie, was not pregnant at the time of her birth. In fact, it wasn’t really known until Elisa introduced the world to her biological mother, Dawn, on her brother, E.J. Johnson’s, E!Entertainment reality show, “EJNYC” a couple years ago. Their reunion was a very emotional one and it was all caught on camera.

In the video clip below, Elisa revealed that she was grateful to have been blessed with her Johnson family, as well as her biological family. Although she views Magic and Cookie as her real parents, she says she’ll never feel “alone,” with so much love coming from both families.

Elisa met up with her birth mom, Dawn, along with her other biological siblings and aunt in a park.  As Dawn was approaching, Elisa couldn’t help but run toward her and embrace the woman who gave her the gift of life. After watching their emotional reunion, it became apparent that Dawn’s motive for putting her daughter up for adoption, was done out of love and not selfishness.

Elisa stated this about seeing her birth mother, whom she refers to as Dawn:

“It’s surreal, like you can’t explain that- seeing your own flesh and blood for the first time. …It’s an incredible experience.”

Through tears, Dawn admitted her heartache to Elisa:

“The pain of me placing you for adoption…everyday, that does not go away. […] People think like…as a birth mom, ‘Oh you’re done…you made a decision, you decided…this is what you wanna do with your child and then you’re done.’…NO! Every time around your birthday [Dawn shakes her head] there’s NO way. … I was in school and every December (Elisa’s birth month) came, I couldn’t focus. …Like, it was pointless for me to even try.”

Clearly, that internal motherly love Dawn has for Elisa has never faded, ever since she handed her over to Magic and Cookie 23 years ago. Instead, Dawn’s decision to place Elisa up for adoption appears to have been the heart-wrenching one she’d made in order to give Elisa an opportunity to find a loving family who would give her what she could not at that time.

Dawn was 17 years old when she gave birth to Elisa. That’s why they appear to look more like sisters, than mother and daughter. It’s also why Dawn felt that at that stage in her life, she did not have the ability to care for her child, thus making the unselfish decision to part with her.

Thankfully, Elisa has been able to fill the void she may have had, to simply know where she came from.

Dawn’s and Elisa’s emotional reunion is one that not many adopted children never get to have. However, not all adopted children wish to meet their biological parents, it just depends on the individual. The beautiful thing Elisa has probably become aware of, is that her Johnson family chose her and that they wanted to love her unconditionally, raising her as their own flesh and blood.