Robert:
I am a child who
searched for (and found) my birthmother and 4
siblings last year. My mother (the incredible woman
who raised me and whom you will meet at the Adoption
Congress), Deborah Blanchard, is under strict orders
to obtain a signed copy of your book!
I
want to THANK you from the bottom of my heart for
putting pen to paper and expressing so clearly what
I only could feel in my heart. Normally well-spoken
- with an enormous emotional vocabulary - I have
been stymied when it comes to articulating certain
of my feelings surrounding searching for and finding
my birth mother this summer after 44 years. I sensed
but did not know, that in spite of having no
physical memories of her or my siblings (the oldest
was 7 when my Dad and I left), I HAVE NEVER
FORGOTTEN.
What it felt like to be held by her, to hear her
voice, her laugh.
Being taken away from her at 2 1/2 years of age has
affected nearly every choice I have ever made in my
lifefrom what to wear (the secret must be to look
perfect to be loveable) to who I chose for my
relationships (men who were not fully "available"),
to staying in those relationships long past the
'expiration date', then leaving claw marks when I
was forced to let go. Whew.
My first epiphany came during some therapeutic
writing I did five years ago; that my birth mother
and those memories that I couldn't recall were at
the root of nearly every fear in my life, the second
when I read your story and your words.
I
will be offering the gift of your book to my birth
mother - that she might understand better what I'm
feeling. When you meet the woman who raised me at
the Adoption Congress, you will understand that,
even had she not already read it (she recommended it
to me), she GETs it.
Thank you thank you thank you thank you...
Denise (Blanchard) Belair
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