Dueling Narratives – India Itinerary 2022

There are two narratives that claim authorship over my origin story, or what remains of an origin story. The two narratives are not entirely mutually exclusive. The first one relies on written records and documentation provided by the orphanage where I stayed and issued by a South Indian court. The documentation has dates, official seals, […]

Searching 2022: Hopes and Wishes

Three years ago, almost to the day, I returned to India, landing in Delhi in the wee hours of the morning. I then hopped a direct flight to Chennai before taking an 8 hour train ride, in the blazing March sun of southern India, to Tiruchirappalli. Eight days after arriving in DelhiI I touched down […]

Bitterroot: A Salish Memoir of Transracial Adoption – book Review

“Oh, damn it!” I grunt, to no one in particular, as my immaculately crafted egg-over-medium, sandwiched in between two crispy buttered halves of English muffins, squirts onto page 187 of Susan Devan Harness’ memoir Bitterroot: A Salish Memoir of Transracial Adoption. With the dripping egg sandwich in one hand and the memoir in the other […]

I wonder…

I wonder if my parents ever think of me. I wonder if they love each other. I wonder if they ever loved each other. I wonder if my dad has patchy facial hair. I wonder if my mom’s eyelashes are dark and beautiful. I wonder if they are my parents. I wonder if they walk […]

Adoption Blogger Interview Project 2013

Friends, acquaintances, web surfers and lurkers welcome to the Adoption Blogger Interview Project 2013. I had the wonderful opportunity to interview Lisa Cook of Open to Life (and God’s plan for it). We had a great time exchanging questions and responses over the past few weeks. Before we get started don’t forget to check out all […]

Searching and Reunion: The First Step is Backwards

Nine years ago my sister and I fulfilled a wish of our late father. 13 years after being adopted and moving to southwest Ohio I would return to India with my older sister. It was my father’s wish that I return to India while he was still alive. December 25th, 2004 we set out for India. […]

An Uncertain Beginning: Shattering Childhood Fantasies

For as long as I can remember I have known my birthdate is an approximation, not fact. At some point, when I was very young, my parents told me that it was unlikely that the records from the orphanage were accurate. They explained that it was common for orphanages to make up information, identifying information, in […]

10 Things Adoptees Want You to Know

This is a piece written by Lesli Johnson. It was published by the huffington post last week. She does a great job of writing about the adoption experience generally speaking, which is incredibly difficult to do without being offensive. Her article is by no means perfect but it is by far the best of its […]

Internalizations Gone Wild

I grew up assuming that I was adopted because my biological relatives could not take care of me. Implicit within that assumption was that they did not want to take care of me. I never found it to be very harsh. I just assumed that they were unable to care for me and so they […]

7

The number 7 represents a lot of things. As with most numbers they carry little individual significance on their own. Significance is gained by association. The number 7 has gained many associations over time. There are 7 days in a week. There are 7 swans a swimming. There are 7 players on an ultimate frisbee […]