Confession: one of the lines I wrote for Courage for a Child is not factually accurate. I thought that may be the case when I wrote it, but I had left it in anyway.
After I submitted the article, I contacted my birthmother, gave her the connection to the article, and said my mea culpas.
The line at issue is what her mother said me when I was born.
I will not include all of her response, to maintain some measure of her privacy. The gist, though, is that her mother took one look at me as a newborn and asked if there was some way they could keep me, maybe be even have me adopted out by a best friend of a family. (Or, as Val later found out, by one of her older sisters.) But for many valid reasons, Val felt it was best - and safest - if I was adopted out through Catholic Charities instead. She closed her note to me with this:
"You can keep it that way or change it if you want it to be totally accurate. Again, this is totally beautiful. Totally...."
Just thought it would be better if I had this on the record.
recommend this
email
print
link to this page
Comments: 6
I'm working on a piece about my son, Clay and my unique situation as an aopted child and as a bitrh mother who had to give up her baby. It's much harder than I thought it would be. I promised Jane C. that I would. Wish me luck. I hope I can tel MY story with as much grace as you have
I think I should probably mention that I've also been working on a memoir about Val contacting me after my mother died. Before I started, I talked with Val to see if it would be okay, and she gave me carte blanche to write it. This is after she's read a novel I've been shopping and after she read my first couple of chapters, so she knows pretty well now how I approach topics as a writer. So I think that's why she was okay about the inaccuracy in the essay I submitted.
But you have God on your side and I am sure you have lots of Gather friends too.
Everyone makes mistakes...
Now you have more to look forward to!!!
God Bless you!!