Ghost from a Wishing Well

Our American Reunion is a true account. It is primarily a story about motherhood. But It is also a story about the “Ghost in the wishing well.” That sentinel event in life which leads to a loss that remains as a lifelong scar. The ghost in the wishing well. The one which never will be set free as long as it’s a ghost that you can't see. For surely giving up a child for adoption is akin to loosing that life as part of your life. Did the birth mother make the right decision? Would the child have a better life than the one she could have given her at the time? And the wanting.

Searching for the birth mother can often be like pursuing an untamed ornithoid without cause. A wild goose chase. And frustrating. Especially if the life you have been adopted into is much like that of Annie and her hard-knock life friends. You wonder about your birth mother. ‘Maybe’ becomes the key word. The ship of dreams. Maybe far away. Or maybe real nearby. Betcha she’s good. Why shouldn't she be? Her one mistake was giving up me! And then the overarching uncertainty of outcomes: “You may find that the having is not as good as the wanting.”

At the end of the day this story comes to a climax amidst the maelstrom of all the competing currents of life in America. The impact is far reaching beyond the lives of the major protagonists-the birth mother and the child given up for adoption. And once the yearning for contact between birthmother and adoptive child becomes hope…which becomes possibility…..and then becomes imminent. How do the participants know if they will make appropriate decisions? How do they know that the contact will be a healing process and lead to the desired goals harbored by both the birth mother and the child given up for adoption? What about the impact on the immediate family? Spouses? Siblings?

But there are ripples in the current of reality which often change the direction of one’s fantasy ship. These ripples often turn to surging currents which impact the direction of the journey in ways unimaginable by those involved.