our Ragdoll kitty!
The successful flight of Artemis ll gives me pause—a scientific, yet miraculous achievement. Are you stunned, as I am, by the communication between Earth and the astronauts on this historic journey? There was a 'blackout' for about 40 minutes when they were on the farside of the moon and then a moment called Earthrise when the signals reappeared. These signals, or radio waves, carried the messages, including endearing chats with families that have left us speechless. I love to marvel at things that scientists can explain, but that also have a spiritual quality.
Before I delve further into communications, here are a couple of updates from my last blogpost. In November 2024, we drove up to the Eastern Townships in Quebec and then to Ottawa. Our visits with folks on both my maternal and paternal sides were delightful and helped to keep the flame alive. As an adoptee, living a distance from my birth relatives, it's important for me to make the effort to get to them—I am the outsider, still curious to learn about my heritage.
A year ago, Paul and I moved from our beloved Buffalo, NY to Smithfield, RI to be near our children and their families. Emily lives in Cranston and Ron now lives in Philadelphia. It was difficult to leave dear friends, sell a beautiful home and find another, pack and unpack! Did I mention we have an EV (electric vehicle) and a Ragdoll cat named Ernie? It was a long day, but we arrived safely and we are thrilled to be here.
The dedication in my memoir, Young Love - An Adoptee's Memoir, says: Identity is sacred. Never give up. I am intrigued but not surprised that these are the same messages I hear today in various podcasts and YouTube stories. The only difference is the widespread use and reliance on DNA. The internet didn't exist when I began searching in 1983 and identified my birth mother five years later. It was coming on the scene as I continued searching for my birth father. A DNA match with my half-brother Yves solved the decades-long mystery in 2018.
Yearning for identity—where did I come from—is the driving force for adoptees who search. One's childhood may have been happy or difficult, but that is a separate issue. With DNA and cooperative matches some searches are quick. However, many searches take months or years, and I hear the mantra I first heard 43 years ago, Never give up! The connections we feel aren't proven in a scientific world. They are not radio waves in space, but they do have a spiritual quality.
"It's a small world." I will end with a story that has old-school style connections in today's internet world. During our visit to the Eastern Townships in Quebec two years ago, we visited my half-sister Maxime and her lovely family. I dropped off copies of my books at their favorite book store in Knowlton, Brome Lake Books. Fun fact: novelist Louise Penny's favorite bookstore, too!
A month ago, I was invited to be a guest on a bookclub chat about adoption called Adoption Chronicles led by Abby Jacobson. Each month Abby suggests a book for discussion. Emily joined me and it was delightful. A mom with an adopted daughter from Gautemala shared her story—she and her husband helped their daughter locate her birth family. She also shared that they live in northern Maine and frequently take trips to the Eastern Townships. One trip happened to be to Knowlton where she spotted my books in the window at Brome Lake Books and purchased them! As a faithful participant in Adoption Chronicles, she then recommended my memoir to Abby. I immediately wrote to Maxime and her parents—it's a small world!