A Summer of Reunion and Returning

This summer is unexpectedly turning into one of reconnecting with people who inhabit special places in my heart.

It was a joy to get together with a dear friend I haven’t seen in over twenty years and find that, though our lives are dramatically different from what they were when we first became friends in the early 1980s, it was like no time has passed at all. Imagine my delight upon learning there’s a strong possibility we will soon live in the same city again! An unexpected opportunity to catch up with a treasured friend I haven’t seen since I retired, a friend who supported me through the darkest days of my life and who was instrumental in changing the trajectory of my life, was a wonderful blessing last week. Last night we learned that a beloved family member will soon return to Canada to live. We’re thrilled!

On top of all of this I was blessed to spend a couple of days with my baby sister. Our lives have both taken complex paths and it’s been many years since we’ve been together; yet, with her too, it was as if we last saw one another yesterday.

“Your ancestors are rooting for you.” ~ Eleanor Brownn

My sister and I sat together and went through a trunk filled with memories that had belonged to the mother we never knew. I couldn’t help but think about how impossible that circumstance would have seemed to our mother during her lifetime. I imagined her rooting for her daughters, all they’ve come through, and they women they’ve become.

“No one has yet put into words the complexity of being adopted.” ~ BJ Lifton

Two sisters who grew up in different families, both with a sense of having been abundantly blessed in their adoptive families, rummaging around in an old trunk, uncovering secrets, and feeling empathy for the woman who gave them life. Yes, adoption is complicated.

Among the ephemera in the trunk was a little tea set our mother must have played with as a child. I snapped a few photos before sending it, and the trunk, home with my sister.

Sometimes a simple photograph, and the memories we store up in our hearts, are the very best treasures.