Sherrie's Blog

<p>There are many adoptees who will nay-say the idea of being grateful for being adopted. Most of them haven&#8217;t lived as long as I have! Looking back over seven decades, I can see so many things to be grateful for and I say them in deep respect for fellow-adoptees who are in pain or anger.</p>

<p>Sherrie shares her concern for the next generation of those touched by adoption and offers self-inventory questions to promote unity and healing.</p>

<p>Write your story” is what’s trendy now in adoption circles amongst adoptees. YIKES…I can’t do that. I’ve written seven books, some which tell the circumstances of my story, but my voice…it’s missing. Last night I lay in bed, panicked about not being able to find my voice. Where is my voice? How can I find [&hellip;]</p>

<p>&#8220;Select items that are representative of each loss and put into the box. (Small items can be used, photos, mementos. The item can be as simple as a button).</p>

<p>It’s a gift adoptive parents can’t give, birth parents can’t give, or adoption professionals can’t give. Only other adoptees can give it to one another.</p> <p>I’ll never forget sitting next to an adoptive mom at an adoption carnival where I was speaking. At the end of the day the time came for the children and teens to come on stage and show the parents an adoption art project they had been working on.</p>

<p>What do you do when you think you&#8217;re searching for gold and the search results are the furthest thing from that? Author Sherrie Eldridge answers this question for fellow adoptees in this post.</p>

<p>Mike Berry, author of this guest . blog post struggled when young with wanting to be famous in sports. The answer came, not in the way he dreamed, but in the fostering of 20 children and adoption of eight special needs kids. The solution for him was far more rewarding than being a legend. It was being a legacy to children from vulnerable places as well as their parents. He encourages through Confessions of An Adoptive Parent blog and book. </p>

<p>One of the greatest fears of adopted and foster children, no matter their age, is losing the adoptive parent or foster parent. After all, when they are all gone, the adopted or fostered child will experience once again what it feels like to be an orphan. It is a dreaded place. So, how can that be handled and be an opportunity for growth? Learning about &#8220;the gaze&#8221; will be a great comfort and reality.</p>

<p>There are many ways to deal with grief, and it shows up most during the holiday season. Is it possible to be happy if you are grieving? If you shove everything aside that remind you of your loss, will you be able to forget it? Sherrie made a wonderful discovery about grief and loss this year.</p>

<p>As soon as I returned home from my adoption reunion with birth mother Elizabeth, she told me on no uncertain terms that she wanted no more contact. She proceeded to tell me she’d had her hair cut to a one inch length, like mine. Say, what? What was she really saying, and how did adopted me respond?</p>

<p>With romanticized societal views about adoption and foster care, it is difficult to put a positive spin on your experience when you are in a winter of your life. There is something very special about living through the winter of one&#8217;s life touched by adoption and foster care, though. Let Sherrie share it with you?</p>