Last night at our church’s Session meeting (our church board), someone shared this quote from Roger Bannister during her devotion to start the meeting: “Doctors and scientists said breaking the four-minute mile was impossible, that one would die in the attempt. Thus, when I got up from the track after collapsing at the finish line,…
I met my birth mother this weekend. (Here is the first post about it.) It is difficult to know what to share here. She remains a very private person, and it is not my role to tell her story. Except, of course, that her story is my story.She still does not want to tell her…
Yesterday I drove to Reno. There’s a whole lot of empty miles on that drive, which was good. Because I needed that much open space to process the journey. I’ve come to Reno to meet my birth mother. And my thoughts are as cloudy as that horizon. I don’t know how today will go. She…
Think about a favorite memory from your early childhood. Maybe you can see it in your mind, like an old family movie, images reinforced with the family stories told about it. I “remember” my first trip to Disneyland, even though I was not quite 3 years old. I’ve seen the home movies. I’ve heard the…
I went ahead and contacted one of my aunts and uncles (my birth mother’s youngest sister and husband). They did not know I existed, but have been kind enough to answer some of my questions about the family genealogy. They have sent me two books of family history, including photos of people who had previously…
Here’s a brief update for those who have been following my birth family discovery as I met new cousins this weekend. It was great. I met two brothers and their wives. They are first cousins of my birth mother. We had a lovely visit, getting to know each other. One of them has a lake…
I blogged the other day about how the shame my birth mother carries is sticky and how her request for me to keep her secret (by not contacting her children, and by extension, my birth family on her side) is becoming more and more difficult for me. First, let me say thank you to the…
As regular readers may recall, I’ve been on a birth family discovery the past two years, ever since Washington State opened their sealed birth records and I got my original birth certificate in the mail. My birth mother does not want to meet me. And she has asked me not to contact her children, my…
I’ve been doing some good and hard work in counseling ever since I got my original birth certificate and found my birth family a few years ago. One of my recent discoveries is that I have a Voice in my head that tells me things. The Voice isn’t new. It’s been with me for awhile.…
I’ve had a conflicted relationship with Mother’s Day since 1989. Before then, it was the day I made my mom a card and bought her some plants for the garden. It was a good day. Church, lunch, time with family. My family adopted me as an infant, and I grew up thankful for my family,…
Glass Overflowing 