Archive for March, 2013

Observations of a Toddler During the WWII Years in Guatemala

Observations of a Toddler During the WWII Years in Guatemala

Three years oldSome full moons are different than others. Last night’s did not let me sleep. I awoke at 2 AM with my creativity in full gear, and put pencil to paper to write about something no one else in the world - and I mean it: in the World - has experienced. I’m talking about early WWII, from the perspective of a ...

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Stages That Become Stories Within One’s History

Stages That Become Stories Within One’s History

Off to Jamaica,1955Inspired by my last post on the danger of having a single story, I considered my own life with the different stories that contributed to forging my personality. Each new start began with a physical move and crossing each threshold came with significant apprehension: what would I face as I stepped, like the trusting Fool in the ...

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On: The Danger of a Single Story

On: The Danger of a Single Story

It was embarrassing that I had not heard about the brilliant young writer and MacArthur Fellow, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Yesterday, an African friend directed me to the young Nigerian’s 2009 Ted Talk. At the time she was only 32 but had already received a string of awards and commendations. The fifth of six children, whose father was a professor and mother a college administrator, her childhood ...

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Love is a Given, but is it Enough in Transracial Adoptions?

Love is a Given, but is it Enough in Transracial Adoptions?

Catana as a toddler in LivingstonLast night I came upon an article recently written by professor Darron T. Smith PhD. in The Huffington Post’s Black Voices. It underlines issues I had to deal with, anguished and alone, way into adulthood. It’s titled Can Love Overcome Race in Transracial Adoption? and adresses ...

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It’s International Women’s Day

Every year, March 8 acts like a speed bump for me. A time to consider the opportunities I enjoy thanks to women who courageously blazed the trail for future generations. Only a few weeks ago we celebrated the 50th anniversary of Betty Friedan’s publication of The Feminine Mystique. The drastic changes for women in American society since the second wave of the ...

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Does a Young Child Understand the Pain Involved in Adoption?

Does a Young Child Understand the Pain Involved in Adoption?

This is my response to Anne Cavanaugh-Sawan’s article in Adoptive Families Circle: Does She Know?

Love this sensitive, well-written post.

It is clear that you are a psychologist and know how important it is to include the story the birthmother may have had, even though it may be quite different to your sensitized version. But your daughter knows she is an adopted child, and while she may at this point not show you that she feels different, you ...

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