Rodney Atkins is riding high with last week's release of his fourth album, Take A Back Road, and the single of the same name reached number one on the charts.  A lot has happened to the singer in the three years since his last album, including becoming a spokesman for the National Council for Adoption in 2008.  The 42  year old was adopted as an infant and didn't have any contact with his birth family until August of that same year, when he was reunited with his birth mother in Nashville.  "It hit me at that moment, walking in that room, getting to know her," Atkins says to USA Today.  "She's a wonderful, beautiful lady. I realized that the reason I needed to do that did not have anything to do with my parents. I'm glad I did that really, really, really for her. She's been carrying that around, wondering what happened, and I could tell it was such a relief."    Atkins says she got pregnant at 19 on a traumatic first date.  She hid the pregnancy from her family, and ultimately chose to give Atkins up for adoption instead of having an abortion.   Read all about it here.  "I just wanted to tell her thank you, because she had some other alternatives to end that situation," said Atkins, pausing. "I might not be here. So you don't want to take it for granted. … She kept saying, 'I'm sorry.' I kept saying, 'Thank you.'"     While Rodney is keeping her identity under wraps, his adoptive parents, Allan and Margaret Atkins, have been completely supportive of the reunion.   "My mom put together pictures from the time I was an infant to a few years ago to catch her up and let her see what my life was like," said Atkins.  On Rodney's latest album, he sings about the people who shaped his life, but his birth mother was not among them.   But on his first birthday after their reunion, she sent a baseball card and jersey signed by Dodgers great Steve Garvey, Rodney's favorite baseball player growing up.   He called his birth mom and thanked her profusely, saying she did not have to do this.   "She told me, 'You have to understand, Rodney, to me this is your first birthday."  Rodney's on tour with Darius Rucker, and will be at US Bank Arena, Saturday October 22nd.  Listen all day tomorrow to win tickets on a "Free Ticket Friday."   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-R9GrGheMRw