A plea to Tom’s mother

Back in January, Tom’s birth mother said that she would be willing to receive a letter from Tom. “But don’t expect any response,” she told Lauren, the social worker at the agency who is our liaison. Tom struggled with how to write to her. How to thank her for enduring such a difficult experience, and not … read more A plea to Tom’s mother

Big and beautiful

The land came to us in waves of mountains, crests of forests, embracing us as we moved across it. I drove and drove and drove. More than eight hours of driving, through North Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and finally Virginia, to the place where Tom’s birth parents met. Although we were on interstate freeways, the … read more Big and beautiful

Germans, maybe

The image above comes with this caption: Typical group of Gary, Indiana school children. Top row standing : left to right, Greek, Negro, Roumanian, Lithuanian, Italian, Polish, Croatian, Hungarian. Middle row, American, Austrian, German, Bulgarian, front row, Scotch, Russian, Irish, Assyrian, Slavish, Jewish and Spanish. Do these children look American? The people in the photo above were … read more Germans, maybe

The mother in Virginia

Fifty-two years ago today, a teenage girl in Richmond, Virginia gave birth to a healthy baby boy. She knew he would never again see her smiling at him, or hear her voice say “I love you.” She gave him a name, knowing that he would never use that name. And then she let him go. Today, on … read more The mother in Virginia