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Bonnie Parsons was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. When she was thirteen, her family moved to Amherst, Massachusetts where she attended high school and university. Bonnie and her husband, Paul, live in Clarence, New York. Previously, they lived in the Parkside neighborhood of North Buffalo for over thirty years where they raised their two children. They have five grandchildren.
Bonnie received her undergraduate degree from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She has a Master’s Degree from the University of Rhode Island and a Certificate of Advanced Study in Educational Leadership from Buffalo State College.
For 25 years, Bonnie taught grades one through eight in self-contained and remedial classrooms. She then became a program supervisor and elementary school principal in the Kenmore-Town of Tonawanda School District. In addition, she was an adjunct professor at Medaille College and Canisius College in Buffalo.
Throughout her career, Bonnie enjoyed writing stories and letters, as well as a wide variety of documents in her work. As a graduate student in educational leadership, her internship assignment was to coordinate the preparation of the award-winning school district application and site visit documents for the New York State Governor’s Excelsior Award in Education. She served on numerous writing teams including the school improvement program, curriculum development, assessment and evaluation, and public relations. Writing and publishing the school handbook for parents and staff was a particularly enjoyable project.
Bonnie was adopted at eight months. As a young mother, curiosity about her birth parents led to a 35-year search for them. Fortunately, she held on to every scribbled note and document along the way. After a successful search, Bonnie decided to tell her story. Her memoir, Young Love – An Adoptee’s Memoir, is a legacy for her family. It is also a story that supports fellow adoptees searching for family. Search techniques are explained along the way and helpful resources are included at the end of the book.
Bonnie enjoys many crafts, in particular, designing and making notecards. After all, notecards are a beautiful accessory for letter writing. She opened her Etsy shop, Custom Cards By Bonnie, and created notecards for customers worldwide. The theme of her shop was send a little love. Bonnie often illustrates her blog posts with photos of her notecards. When the memoir published, she replaced Custom Cards By Bonnie with her My Adoptee Memoir Etsy shop. Hardcover and paperback books and notecards can be purchased from her shop.
Send a little love is now the title of her second book, Send a Little Love: Sequel to Young Love – An Adoptee's Memoir. It is a collection of her blogs. It also includes updates on her adoption story and newfound extended family!
This card honors Bonnie's two mothers. Her mom and birthmother both died from breast cancer. Each of us is unique and special in our own way. Bonnie hopes to raise awareness of the value of identity and adoptees' right to their original birth certificate and family heritage.