Siblings
November 24th, 2009
I’ve been in Orlando for a month now, shooting for my documentary, ironically during National Adoption Awareness Month. The adoption industry proclaims November as “a time to gather and give thanks for the blessings of adoption.” I find it really hard to be thankful for the dislocation and separation adoption caused me and my siblings. And as I interview more adoptees I’m finding isolation and loss a recurring theme. Recently, my biological sister shared an entry from her high school journal about her experience being reunited with me and my brother after 9 years of separation.
“The one wish I always wished for came true…My Aunt and mom and grandma told me that I had to help them carry watermelon back from the store. I didn’t want to go…but they made me! Well, at the store my Aunt says “Go to the back and see if there are any watermelons.” Well I started walking back there and I ran into this girl, at first I didn’t recognize her, but I knew I knew her. I wasn’t too sure, but then I saw a guy standing down the aisle smiling at me, then I look at the girl and she stood there smiling at me. Then she said hi! Well, in those two quick seconds I knew they were my lost sister and brother! I grabbed my sister and hugged her, next thing I knew I was crying of Joy and Loss!
In my mind our past flashed back at me-when we were little. This might be hard to understand, but ever since I’ve been adopted I’ve always felt alone in this world. Now that I have seen my own flesh and blood I feel whole!”
I have to wipe away tears as I read this. I remember the faces on my two oldest children as they looked at me and their siblings and realized there were others who shared things with them that they did not have in their adoptive families.