Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Grown babies are not the same...

My birth mom had been texting me, nothing really earth shattering, just common things like she's working a lot, its hot outside, can't wait for the weather to change.  I was telling about my dad dying.  We were not talking about my (brother) but she did bring him up a bit, and the way she talked about him you'd think he was fine.  In the past she spoke about my (brothers) girlfriend, as though the situation was,  in my mind, normal.

Being the searcher that I am, and the information at everyone's fingertips via internet, I looked for myself.  If people do not make their social media "Private" it is open for the world to see. What I saw of my (brother) I did not like,  I don't think I am being cruel, just brutally honest.     I have to be honest, with myself about "What Is."  I went my entire life before getting married in fantasy land, even years after getting married.  Pretending that what was happening was not happening.  It still goes on to a point now, within my family.  But I cannot pretend that a person is wonderful when in reality they are not.  I searched and found that my (brothers) girlfriend is my youngest sons age.

Anyhow, back on topic.  My birth mom and I do not agree.  She feels other men are pigs  for dating super young women.  However she feels her son dating inappropriately  young women is perfectly fine.  We will never agree.

I started blogging years ago after dealing with my birth moms betrayal and years of her ignoring me, and a lot of wounds dealing with adoption and just life.   I really thought she'd want to know me, get another chance with me by being part of my children's lives, but in reality that was not the case.  She searched for me, paid someone to find me, and once she did, it was like she disappeared so to speak.  I have to be honest and say she did change, the woman I met in 1984 is not the woman in year 2015.   I really don't know her, she changed back around 1993, a lot of years lost.   I'd like things to be different, but they can't be changed, and unfortunately, she has no intention on changing.   She has chosen my (brother) and has decided to dig her heels in the sand and ignore me, my family, my children and I am guessing my own grandchildren when the time comes.

So this accident, of texting another woman named (Cathy) with a "k" was when I realized this recent texting was just so she had something to gossip about.  Anything and everything I had to say she was turning around like a teenager and gossiping about it.   When I texted her back and told her that I realized she accidentally texted me, her response was ridiculous, and its embarrasing reading her text.  She told her best friend (Kathy) that I had told her about my dad dying, and that I had some nerve telling her this when I have a blog about "Her."   Her text messages got ridiculous, after realizing she had made a mistake and whoops, texted me!   Here's our dialogue:

ME:  I'm guessing that was for the other "Cathy"

HER:  What?  Don't know...I got phone back now, Linda was using it.  She's in fight with her mom, she's controlling her life, $$ etc...They fight like cats & dogs...guess its the heat?

HER:  I'm getting on freeway, can't wait to get home sweating like a pig!

ME:: I do have a blog-its not about you, its about me and my experience & life.  If everyone was honest and faced what has been done and what has happened, there wouldn't be a big surprise I write this blog.  Its what has saved me dealing with everything.

ME:  You and I have had a strained relationship and you know why.  I am not the bad guy in all this, not one person is to blame.

ME:  I was around when your mom died and after - it shouldn't be so hard listening to my experience now - Im guessing you talk to non related people about life.

ME:  I do too - I also question why we are talking - its unfortunate that (my brothers) life has changed ours because I have not had a firm solid relationship with anyone - I understand how you feel for me is different.  Its expected.  But I also remember the old you - how you used to be, even the old (brother) which always gives me hope that maybe it can be fixed, be how it used to be.

ME:  IF that is wrong, I am wrong.

ME:  I don't want anything from you but probably what Ive always wanted which never happened, without going into a long explanation.  You know.  The things you never got from YOUR mom.

ME: Im a double loser, I've lost out on 2 moms, that is my cross to carry

ME:  And no I don't really have strong ties to anyone except Steve, and our 3 kids and my sister.  I have accepted that.  I am loyal to my parents and sister-no they are not perfect, nobody is, but I have more history with them growing up than I do you and (brother)

ME:: I would have liked it to be different - but its not and probably cannot be.  I'd love to have you come rushing to me with open arms, saying you were wrong and that you love me.  Yep that is what Id like, not very realistic but that is the truth

ME:  The anger over time is disappointment and realization I will never have a mom.  That is why I blog.  Its about me.  not you per-se - just as I am not that baby you lost .  I am not mad, just greatly disappointed.  I had a lot of dreams and hope.

ME:  Anyhow you don't have to keep talking to me, I get it.

HER:  I don't have a problem with you voicing your opinions, feelings & thoughts.  Your entitled.  Its really hot today & Im working so I can't really say much right now.  My client yesterday was having similar issues with her mom & daughter.  They all write about their feelings, thats how this was brought up.  Its more common than u think.  will TTYL

Anyhow, the weather seemed to be more important than anything.  Forget about how I feel.  We had a little conversation, and we discussed her brother that went missing in action, so I accidentally found pics of her other brother and their son who is now in college.  She had not seen pics of him in probably 14 years, so I texted her pics of him now.  She never did respond again,  the last text was August 29, 2015.

So the bottom line is,  I  endured one death after another.  Her dads death, then her moms death, then her brothers death, birth dads mom.    I went to all of their funerals.  Not a single one had a picture of me in the pictures that were posted at the funeral, just my brother!   My uncle  was homeless and living in a shelter, a prior heroine addict when he died.  I bought the food for the funeral, which is not the important thing, but the fact that I was involved was the important fact.

Now she is bitching that I have told her about the misery surrounding my dad dying, and she has the audacity to mimic me, yet talk nice to me in text?  Seriously?  Her mom had said to me when alive,  in a nasty voice and with a bitter look on her face, that "She did not owe me nothin" - this somehow escaped from her mouth, although it shouldn't have!  This was when I stopped to say hello to her on my way home from somewhere, before she died.  I never asked anyone in my birth family for money, for material items....just love and attention.   I sat with my birth mom after her mom had died, in the hospital, for probably 8 hours.  It was not fun, they had to leave the ventilator in her mouth, so it was a very heartbreaking experience for me, and I had never seen someone die before.

I wish I could understand where she is coming from.  I have made it very clear how I feel.  My brother is bipolar, has permanent brain damage from drug use, has severe OCD, panic disorder, and lives his life on the edge and is an addict.  He dates a girl old enough to be his daughter, who incidentally looks like a pole dancer, and has naked pics of herself on the internet for the world to see.  I am dreadfully embarrassed to admit this man is related to me.  As my oldest  son has said, my (brother) is a pervert, none of my kids can believe he dates little girls, I'm included in this!   My birth mom does not even know my kids, I don't think she even knows me.  She has lied about me, written letter to a (now x friend ) of mine, words she wrote I don't know that I can ever undo.  She has never apologized, said she is sorry, that she is wrong, and probably worse of all she has never said I love you, that I can recall.

I feel I deserve more than this, and I am lovable, and I am trustworthy.  Having said this, I cannot change her and my (brothers) life choices, and again, this is even a good example of how the "Adoptee" looks like the crazy one.  In their little cuckoo circle and altered reality they live in, I am painted as the crazy daughter who lies, that tells stories, and I would bet my own life that this woman I call my birth mom has lied to her friend "Kathy" about what has happened, and anyone and everyone who will listen to her.  I can guarantee I am painted as the crazy daughter, as she wrote my X Friend,  made me appear to be the mentally ill person and gave my (brother) my life.  He is the one that is supposedly living a normal life, with a wife and kids!!!!!  Hahahaha!  Even though he's never been married and has no children.

THIS IS HOW ADOPTION HAS ROYALLY MESSED WITH MY LIFE.  Non-adoptee's don't deal with this sort of thing, and probably the most shocking thing is SHE KEPT him and not me, and even after all these years, even after I have honestly lived a very genuinely good life, she paints me as the CRAZY GIRL!  The dirty, disheveled, tossed away girl, left on the side of the road, or in the shopping cart, that nobody wanted.

There it is, another angle of adoption that not everyone out there understands.  No resolution.



Monday, October 12, 2015

Reluctant to speak

I've come to a point in my life where talking about how I feel and helping others understand what its like to be in my shoes, is not worth it.   I end up looking like the crazy woman, who obviously has a large chip on her shoulder.  I feel that talking about things and being up front about my own feelings is important and has been a vital part of my journey, but now that I have said what Ive said over the years, its not making a difference.

When I say these words, "Family Preservation" its like I have just said something very wrong, like threatening world peace, or insulting a religion.  People in general have this idea, that adoption automatically equals insane happiness,  and the adoptee should feel thankful, lucky and sometimes appreciative to even be alive.  

I wonder if our world will catch up ?  Will people ever understand what adoption means?  Will they admit and openly discuss the fact that adoptee's really do lose their ancestry with adoption.  Their constitutional right to their birth records, and in reality, they are expected to lose their rights to free speech.  IF we do speak, we look like the crazy ones, because the general public, it seems everywhere in this world is still back in 1950 somewhere, lost in space with the entire adoption reality.

So here I am, age 50, and I am still afraid, somewhat reluctant now that I'm a bit older, to even speak out loud to anyone about the reality of adoption, the good and the bad.  My adoption experience, even in a random conversation.  I stop, think very hard about what I am going to say, if it will spark controversy, or will offend someone.  We had gone into this store where they sell facial products, my sister allowed them to put the product on her face, I waited by the door talking to some of the kids working there.  The one guy said to me, you are sisters, you don't look anything alike, and jokingly said, maybe she's adopted.  I said, well no, I am adopted.  He thought I was joking, and I confirmed, that yes I am.  Mom was standing in the shade, it was a very hot day, and they realized that sister looks like mom,  and they started asking more questions.  I felt very uncomfortable talking about who I am, as though it was wrong to tell them my ethnicity.  I whispered to them quickly, not wanting to upset my mom, not that she would be mad, it just seems to come up when people we've met see my sister and I together.  Its obvious, especially when they see mom and dad.  Most of the nurses with hospice who come to help dad mention that I don't look like either parent.  Its not that its wrong, or that its bad, it just uncomfortable for others!  haha!

Until this world gets on track, and starts admitting that its got a BIG problem, there is no reason for me to continue to beat myself up, and end up looking like the disturbed woman, the adoptee that most people do not understand.

Saturday, August 1, 2015

I don't need this mother

Lesson learned.  Cannot trust those that are not blood related, except my own husband.

My help, my opinion, not needed nor are they interested in knowing it.

I am not trustworthy, they feel.  I cannot be responsible for anything important, except for parent sitting when said relative decides to take our mother and her sister  to a play.   I then, can be responsible for 10 hours, and oh, don't forget that dinner I was reminded to plan in advance so when they arrive back from the play, they can eat!  Because this relative of mine stated she has to work the next day, so she does not want to be at our parents house all night long!  Oh, excuse me.  Oh, and don't forget to get the ingredients for whatever your cooking, although our aunt had mentioned she loves pizza, and maybe a salad, because you won't be able to leave dad alone while we are gone!   I guess I'm also an idiot, and have not raised 3 children, and somehow have forgotten how to cook...even though I am the one who usually does most of the cooking and baking at all our holidays over the years.    Maybe they should just kick me in the rump and slap me in the face too.   Gets better, I was also told to watch dad while my sister and mom took my aunt to the airport.

So this is how its going to be from this point forward.  I will not go back to moms house unless I am asked, very nicely.  I will never be anyone's maid, cook, or be used again.

The past year I have scrubbed pee off carpets, scrubbed floors, changed beds, cleaned house, laundry, windowsills all in the name of helping mom whiled dad  is dying.  Now, I see that my help, even though it was accepted, was not wanted.  Wow, do I feel like a fool.  I guess when I volunteered to put eye drops in my dads eyes and my mom would not trust me to do this, I should have gotten a clue!

My relatives forgot to let me know that a supposed important person in my life, my own mother, was going back to the cardiologist yesterday.   Mind you I took her to countless doctor appointments in prior months, kept my lovely sister in the loop every step of the way.   And my own mother is going in for an ultrasound on Monday for her carotid arteries, something that slipped their minds.  As usual, I get a call many hours later from my mother, she left a message, once she realized that I somehow was forgotten in her plans.  Oh, gee, I was not needed to baby sit my dad, or schlep her to the doctors, so I guess that is why I was forgotten.   If I had not asked my sister about something, I never would have known.   I am their last thought, and to be honest, I am sick of this.  I cannot and will not do this again to myself.

This same thing happened when my mom went in for the actual procedure a few months ago, I had spent days at her house, each week, taking her to tests, appointments, etc, and when it came time, my sister arrived,  and told me I was baby sitting my dad and she was taking mom.  The next day after moms procedure, they both got up, got dressed, said nothing to me and off they went, for 3 hours and left me with my dad.

What other conclusion can I come to?  Im important enough when I am taking care of dad all day and night and cook them dinner, so they can go see a play, but when my services are not needed, I am kicked to the curb, my feelings not important,  keeping me informed, not important to them.  I am the last person they think of.  Im just free maid service.  

Sad, heck yeah.  But as my dear husband said yesterday after work, "I don't mean to make you feel bad or mad, but you don't need a mother" - that really hit me between the eyes.  He is right, I do not need this mother, because she is not my mother.  She is a woman, that took someone else's baby, and does not have the same feelings for this baby as she does her own.  Nothing can be done about it, its not my fault, its just is.







Monday, June 22, 2015

Adoption continues to take

I hope by blogging I can explain what I'm feeling.  I am not even sure how to get these thoughts on paper or what words I will use to communicate my feelings.

Why is it that as an adoptee so many in the triad feel they can take things from me, or try to take from me, crack stupid jokes about adoption, and always belittle how I feel.  But there is this specific dynamic within  birth families that still remains a mystery to me.  I don't know where it comes from, but it does exist.  To date, my birth mom has deceived me, betrayed me, lied to me countless times, has chosen to have no relationship with my children, the list goes on, and NOT ONCE has she ever apologized, said she is sorry, or wrong.

My birth mom has always kept me at a distance.   I'm usually the one to track her down, for the most part. 

Why does she continue to act like she can say and do whatever she wants without any consequences to how I feel?  Apparently she feels there are no boundaries for her.  Same goes for my brother, her son.  He has always felt that he has the right to try and convince my children that my husband and I are bad parents, they have both talked bad about us.  They both paint this picture to the rest of the world, they are the best people, the best grandma and uncle to my children, and WE are the problem.   The frightening part is that she and my birth brother are believable, charming, convincing AND they believe their lies!   I have not trusted either of them for many years.

My brother over the years has continued to bully me, my kids and my husband.  Yet now, today, he claims my husbands brother as HIS family.  This is why I get upset when I see this is going on.  I am so sick of them bullying me, and the fact they feel they have the right to take anything they want from me, even things that are clearly not theirs.  My brother states on the internet to the old time skaters and surfers that knew my brother in law, that he was his uncle.  I blogged about this the other day.  How is it that you cannot stand ME, can't even talk to me, and have threatened to kill my entire family (which you later lied about doing & called my children liars) YET you are now, claiming MY HUSBANDS family as your own?  Pretending to be the nephew of my husbands brother?    You hate me, yet you manipulate my kids over the years, almost like a pedophile, luring children into their house.  My brother has always liked young girls, when my daughter was in middle school he started talking to girls on line, that were in her 7th grade class.  At the time he was about 28 years old, pretending to be MY KIDS COUSIN.  Sound familiar?  He had been talking to this little girl who ended up committing suicide.  He knew about it before it hit the newspaper, before we even knew about it.  HERES THE SICK PART...my birth mom and brother both lie about it now, make it seem like I have made this up, and I am the crazy one.  I have nothing better to do but sit around and make up stuff!   It did happen, my adult kids can attest to this.  My oldest has received several threats from my brother left on his cell phone, death threats.   According to my birth mom & brother, we are all the crazy ones, living lies, and none of this ever happened!

Its hard to explain in words, I don't even know why this has happened over the years.  The lies, the manipulation, the deceit.  WHY?  What do they want?  Sometimes it feels like they want to annihilate me, step in and take over my life.  Everything they have done, and trust me its not been a cake walk, they have lied about, stated that "Cathy is mentally ill"  --  I guess all 5 of us are crazy!  My daughter and youngest son will never even acknowledge them.  My oldest son has more memories of them, but he was really little and his judgment is not that great.  Now, he has realized that maybe Kelly my brother is not the greatest guy that walked earth.  Honestly, Kelly my brother is not a person you can even have small talk with, he's dangerous, cruel, manipulating, mentally ill, has brain damage from drugs, and hates all of us.  Not a good combination, its somewhat lethal.

So you ask, why would I talk to these people?  I always have hope, hope that they will change, make different life choices.   Well, I have not talked to my brother in many years.  I've had nothing to do with him.  I recently spoke via text with my birth mom, and of course she continues to lie about my brother.  She always paints a picture of this man (age 40 now) who is living this sedentary, normal life.  So I see all of his Instagram pictures, which just about made me sick.  I see his girlfriends pages and her pictures, which made me even more sick inside.  My birth mom slips and says the girlfriend is mentally ill as well.  Gee, doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out WHY a girl age 21 would be dating a man older than her parents.  My brother lives a wild and crazy life.  He's drinking, acting and dressing like he's a young kid, and I am sure this is taking its toll on him.  He looks awful, and these pictures prove that my birth mom is living in la-la land, lying to me about what he's doing and how he is doing.  If his Type 1 diabetes is out of control, its his choices that are making that happen.  This young girl that looks like a hooker/stripper, and their vulgar pictures and talk would make anyone feel sick.  I am ashamed to even admit this man is my brother, and why I have decided that I can no longer call him that.  This same behavior has been going on since he was much younger and to be honest, I'm exhausted.  I don't deserve this, and I have chosen not to be part of their lives and I supposed I have to give up hope they will ever get it together and live somewhat decent lives.

I realize my birth mom has betrayed me in the past, and it seems she is not capable of being truthful.  Which brings me full circle.  I feel she is always manipulating me, and lying and there is no logical reason why?   What does she want from me?  Why does she contact me when I really do believe she does not like me?

Adoptee's are the pit everyone dumps into.  Adoptee's micromanage the families, taking abuse at times,  forget an apology, or any sort of feelings that would show they have remorse.  Its because we don't have the spot in any family, really.  We were taken from our birth family, never to really connect and bond with any of them, and the adoptive family we were stuck in are not always a match, loss of fertility issues, a father not wanting a child that is not his blood.  We have to make our own family, however we choose to do this.

When someone comes into my family, like my brother and tries to take what I have made, for myself, and have worked so hard to attain, I pretty much go into battle mode.  Who does he think he is?  How and why does he feel he has the right to pretend to be my husbands nephew?  Pretend to be the cousin of MY children.   How does he have the gumption to say he is anything to me except being born of the same two people?   He has not done any work to say he is my chidrens uncle, he does not even deserve the label of acquaintance.  To me he is dirt, he has no class, he is a scum sucking bottom dweller.  And my birth mom is similar, lying for him, even though he is age 40, pretending he is the better child of the two, when in reality she is probably thinking wow, I gave away the better of the two children I had!

I am so angry they both still feel they have "Rights" to me and my family.  I cannot stand the fact that my brother has posted pictures of MY family on line, all over the place, claiming to be MY husbands brother, who passed away years ago.  Preying upon people, lying, manipulating.  Its like he still THINKS he has the right to dump on me!




Thursday, June 18, 2015

[BIRTH] [BROTHER] -

My [birth] brother,  as of today,  I denounce.

He hates me, and yes I know the word hate is very heavy.  But, quite honestly it's the solid truth.

For many years he tried his best to lure my young children away from me.  Needless to say that was not even possible, but the fact remains its something he tried to do for many years in his sick twisted brain.

My birth mom went as far as writing my friend a letter, a friend she did not know.  Stating her son, my [birth] brother was such an important part of my children's lives, and they love him so much & miss him.  Suggested an intervention, saying that I am mentally ill.  My friend is a sheriff, and we were not really close friends any longer.  Her years as a sheriff really changed her a lot.  

Anyhow, so this behavior has continued for many years.  Contacting my kids, requesting to play video games with them on line, friending them on Facebook and instagram.  The hate talk continued for many years. 

I finally got the nerve to ask my oldest son to unfriend my [brother] - I said I cannot tell you what to do, but I'd rather he not have a front seat ticket to our lives.  He said, OK...

My [brother]  had posted pictures of MY husbands brother, one who had passed away and was one of the original skaters/surfers in the day in Santa Monica area.  Stating "Uncle Rodney Jesse RIP he changed the way I looked at life forever..."  - and the comments went on like this, about MY Uncle Rod, etc.  Mind you, my [brother] DID NOT KNOW RODNEY.   My kids barely knew him, and to be quite honest, my husband and I did not know him during the years after we were married either, I had just met my [brother] right before meeting my husband.  

So my oldest son a few weeks ago sent me a screen shot of my [brothers] Facebook, showing a photograph of Rodney "Forty Years of Skateboard History"  on a ramp skating back when men skaters wore striped knee socks!  hahaha!  My [brother] writes on the pictures, "My Uncle Rodney Jesse ripping it 40 years ago RIP check you on the flip. "  My son doesn't say anything accompanying the photo with my brothers caption, but I know what he's asking me.... WHY?  

This morning I happen to see on Facebook, as I'm laying in bed, "People you may know" - I see some names that look familiar, and next thing you know Im clicking around and I find my [brothers] Instagram, and his supposed girlfriends Facebook page.  I cannot tell you how I got there, but I did.   I cannot deny I felt sick,  realizing she was just a teenager in high school when she started dating my [brother] who is 40.  And, this girls parents are the exact age as my [brother] !!!

I got the nerve to ask him to please change the tagging on the pictures of Rodney he has posted on Facebook and Instagram.  I said that Rodney is MY husbands brother, and if he was anything to you he would be your brother in law, if we had a relationship!   I reminded him that Rodney is OUR children's UNCLE, not his.  Again, I asked him to please update and make it clear, really he should say, my sisters husbands brother.  Because he and I have NO relationship, and he's been the worst possible relative you could ever imagine over the past 22 years.   To be honest he's lucky our kids have forgiven him at all, well our daughter and youngest son have not.  Our oldest has  somewhat.  

I feel like my [brother] has tried so very hard to take my life, even though I know that is impossible.  13 years ago I allowed him to live with us, and without going into details. it was a huge mistake.  I later learned he was working on the set of porno movies, and coming home and telling our kids in the middle of the night what they were doing.  When we finally kicked him out, he threatened to kill us, left voice mail on our cell phones.  The death threats happened more than once.  My [brother] has brain damage from drug use, is bipolar, has severe OCD, and severe anxiety that does not allow him to live a normal life.  

Anyhow, today was the day for me.  Seeing what my [brother] is writing on social media, claiming my family through marriage as his own, makes me feel physically ill.   I have fought so hard, and so long to find myself, and to find my place within my family.  Who does he think he is, trying to take my place, within my family!  He hates me but wants what I have.  I think its his HATE that makes him want what I have, to try and take away my happiness.  He has never wanted me to be happy, or to be part of his life.  He hated that I had a relationship with his mom, my [birth] mom.  When our youngest was born,  he told me that his mom hated me and my stupid kids,  and wanted nothing to do with us.  

I can only fathom that my [brother] wants to brag about a famous skater/surfer in his family, and just conveniently left out the fact that the famous guy is his sisters, husbands brother, actually...no relation at all to him.   

Its very difficult to put into words, but its like because I was adopted,  they feel they have the right to mess with me, as though my feelings are not important enough,  and because they do not have the time invested and the bond, I mean nothing and they feel they can take from me what they want.   My [brother]  was kept, I was tossed away, and I was the kid that caused all the problems within the family.  Its easy to mistreat the adopted kid nobody wanted.  Sometimes when they behave this way I feel like I'm going to disappear.  




Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Don't tell me I'm too emotional

I have to pull up my skirt, I have to stop this craziness.   My mom needs me to help her right now, and I have to step up and move into her house and be there for her, until my dad dies.

Can I do this?  Can I ?  Can I help her without feeling like I want to go running through the streets pulling my hair out?

I texted my sister, she is on a trip with her daughter.  As though this trip is so important, she tells me she cannot talk to me about (mom) she is "Trying to have fun."   Oh, wow, sorry.

Remind you, I have rheumatoid arthritis, I have zero pain relief and I somehow find the strength to spend countless days at moms.   She, on the other hand feels that when she is on a trip, a trip that has very little meaning , that she is not to be bothered by things like our mom not making sense, and firing my dads caretaker. (dad is at home in hospice)

This is where my feelings of being that dirty, unwanted kid come in.  My feelings, my opinion and concern for our parents is not of worth to her.   She gets to decide what happens to [her] parents.  Shut up Cathy, we don't want to hear your ideas, your worries, your concerns.  That is what she is saying when she tells me she cannot talk about this [now] because she is trying to have fun!  When she shuts me up and says that what I have experienced is not real, it did not happen!  This is why I have resorted to video taping things that happen at our parents house.

Sorry, but this is pure insanity in my opinion.  Your trying to have fun?  Give me a #&$(% break.

Yeah, I know this could happen in any family.  But this is not any family.

The question still remains, do I continue to push my way into this?  Do I help my mom & dad?  Or should I back off and allow my sister, their birth child to make all the decisions?  It seems I am looked at as being too emotional.  Even though my mom cannot remember what was discussed just 5 minutes ago, I guess I am over reacting. She is living alone, with my dad who is dying.  She has fired now her 2nd caretaker for my dad, who is blind, cannot do anything for himself, and mom is a train wreck.  She can barely take care of herself, and her health is not good.  She is not making wise choices, and telling me she does not have the money for a caretaker.  She does have the money!  Got so mean she basically hung up on me, and let me tell you her sister called me worried as well.  Saying that she was not making sense.

I think my sister wants to be in the drivers seat.  She wants to make the decisions, my opinion and feelings do not matter.   On the outside, everyone thinks that adoption is no big deal.  I am so lucky to have been adopted by this wonderful family.  Nobody really wanted you, so your lucky.  It amazes me at age 50, that I am still having this conversation.  That I feel like I'm still second guessing my position.  Are these really my parents?  Should I be able to step in and make decisions on my own regarding their well being?  The answer my friends, is NO.  My opinion, my feelings mean nothing.  I really am that unwanted, unloved kid found in the shopping cart, or found on the side of the road, left because I am too stupid, or not cute enough, or not clever enough to have any sense, not enough worth to make a reliable decision.

If adoption did not make a difference, if being the adopted daughter was not an issue,  why is this happening?  My sister would not be talking to me this way, and arguing about what our mother is doing.  Refusing to admit that our mother is not mentally well and needing a dementia screening.

I have not decided how to handle this, but maybe I will have to just push these awful feelings aside and do the right thing, and live with my parents and take care of them.  I really need to do this, to prove to myself that I can, that I CAN love unconditionally.    I should be able to do this, I could do it for a stranger, I can do it for my parents.  Regardless if they love me and adore me or not.

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

I will always long for my mom

As a little girl I always tried to force mom to be close to me, I'd sit in her lap, I remember laying on the couch with her.  Remember the game kids play, you put the bottom of your feet on the other persons feet, and pretend your riding a bike?  I always laid with her, even though she was in a bad state at the time.  Looking back I didn't get what I wanted.   I don't think I thought that way at the time, I did not realize that I wasn't getting what I wanted or that it was not possible.  But as years went by and I grew up, I just know I did not trust women, or want to be close to women like the closeness shared by a mother and child.

I took care of my mom, behind closed doors.  On the other side of the door she was a nurse, taking care of others.  But when I had her, I was the nurse.  That is how it felt to me.  It was my job to make sure she didn't somehow die, and I was there to comfort her when she was crying. I'm not really blaming her for this, she was unhappy and did not have the tools to make it better for herself.  She still doesn't have the tools.   To be honest, she did cook, and clean.  She did not take care of herself, though.  She did not care what she really looked like, as far as her hair and clothing.  She has never worn a stitch of make up.  She used to care, I have the pictures to prove it, before she was married and shortly after.  Cute clothes and make up were part of her daily routine.

I'm not sure what this does to a kid, having a mother that does not show affection.  My old friends tell me I was quiet as a kid, never said much, but I was kind and always shared my lunch if someone did not have one.  I did not get mad and mean until my teenage years.   Mom did make my lunch, she was so worried about what others would think, at age 83 she is still worried about what others think!   But I know how I feel now, about the years of my life spent longing for what I've never received...it has tried to take over my life and heart.  

Its strange, because I have a relationship with my mom, now.  But its not what it should be, we can never fix what is broken.  I realize this now, but in all honesty it does not make it any easier.  I still long to have what I cannot have.  I know I'm repeating myself.  But I want to give myself permission to grieve what I cannot have in this lifetime.  And watching my sister so attached to mom makes it somehow harder.  I see that she really cares for mom differently than I do.  She received what I did not receive from this woman we call our mom.  With hesitation I say I love you.  Knowing that I do not have the same love for her as I do my husband or children.  I do not love her as I should.  I feel guilt about this, and I feel shame.  I cannot make myself love her as I should.  I have tried again and again.  I want to, so badly.   This years Mother's Day the pain in my heart was not as bad, so I think I may have achieved some relief, forgiven myself a little for not feeling how I should for mom.

But I know I will keep trying and trying, in hopes that something will ignite inside of me, and I will all of a sudden feel that click in my head and feel differently.  It does not come, that click.  I feel disappointed, I feel sad, and I lick my wounds and time passes by.

But I thought telling mom about my blog, and how I felt about a lot of what she has done over the past 50 years would make that click come.  It did not.  Instead it made her look more tired and old.  In turn I felt guilty when I saw her on Mothers Day, after spending one week away from her house.  I'm usually at her house every week, helping her with dad.  She is slowing down, and seems worn out.   Its sad that she has refused to attend counseling with me, I suggested it many times.   I'm realizing she will never go, because that would mean allowing someone to know the truth of her life, the abuse and neglect, the awful life she has lived with a man she does not like.   She talks to people she does not know and tells them lies about how her life is, paints a picture of the perfect family, perfect everything.  It almost makes me sick, her deception.   The truth cannot be exposed, and keeping that truth hidden is more important to mom than having a relationship with me, or my children, in this lifetime.


Monday, May 11, 2015

Another Mothers Day

I figured a way to get through it, even though I have my children and my amazing husband.  Not that my boys are great at sentiment, but I got a great dinner cooked for me.  I feel blogging helped me get to the place I'm at now .

We celebrated with my mom on Saturday.  My sister and I took her to lunch.  It was nice, it was hard but I managed to make it through.   

I had meant to pick out a card at Target while I was there earlier in the week, I even procrastinated printing a picture out for the frame I bought.   My husband dropped me off at my sisters house, and on the way I picked up a card at Hallmark.  WOW, swoosh, kicked in the gut as I read the Mothers Day cards from a daughter.  Panic time, I started sweating, looking around to see if anyone was watching me furiously picking up cards, reading the first sentence, and putting it back.   My husband was waiting in the car, as I read faster and faster.  Mad at myself for somehow conveniently forgetting to pick one out at Target.   I had to convince myself that it was OK to pick out a card that was not completely true.  That it didn't matter, not really.  So I picked a card, that talked about how important a mothers love is.  I should have made my own card, picked a picture from years ago and cut, pasted and decorated it, allowing me to just say, "Happy Mothers Day" instead.  

I signed the card, "Love Cathy" and felt unsure.  Love.  Love is a big word.  Again talked myself into feeling OK inside, thinking it doesn't matter what I really feel.  Its just a card.  

The day went by, no major issues.  We did some shopping.  My sister bought some pants.  I bought some shoes.  We had our waiter take a picture of the three of us.  I cannot deny the fact that I was glad the day was over, when it was over.   The picture is good, in my opinion.  I tried to scoot down to look smaller.  My sister is a clone of my mom.  Even their body type, their skin, hair, etc.  Not everything is the same.  I did not feel super exposed, like I was the 3rd wheel this time.  I think its about how I feel inside, not because of what they have said or done.  Simple things maybe others would not even notice to begin with.  I told mom about my blog, and about some of the things I feel inside which are a result of years of trials.  I think telling her has taken its toll on her, and although I realize she does know these things already, they have not been taken out of the dust pan and looked at.  So in a way, its like she doesn't know what "IS."  Its important that I tell her how I feel, and to talk about the reasons why our relationship has been strained for my entire life.  Again, she does know these truths, but she has hidden them from herself, and pretended all is OK for so long, its difficult to grasp whats real when you've lied for so long.  

I will always long for my mom.  A woman that brushes my hair, adores me and makes me feel as though I am the most important thing in her life.  How I have always wanted her to choose me, instead of others.  Quite an irony, that I was chosen, and still at age 50 yearn to be chosen.  I wish there was a way to go back in time,  for her to take back all of the things that have happened, and to change the current status of our relationship.   The behaviors I've dealt with continue today, so its an on going struggle.  





Wednesday, April 29, 2015

At some point I'll have to forget it

I think its coming, that place you get to when nothing matters any longer.   At some point you have to desensitize yourself from the entire situation, and look at things as though you are an outsider, looking in.  Just a friend from up the street.

Mom sat across the kitchen table from me last week, stating she doesn't know exactly what she did to me over the years and does not have an excuse for what she does remember.

For example:  When my oldest son was little, my parents watched him because he is an epileptic.    On his 2nd birthday my dad came up to me and told me that my sisters kids come first, and we'd have to find someone else to watch our son.   My sister had another baby and my mom was very involved with both of  her kids.  She was driving out to help my sister regularly, even though my sister was not working like my husband and I.  So one day we stopped taking our son to  my parents house, yet we never heard a word from mom.  She did not tell me she wanted to stop watching Austen, but my dad told me it was over and done with.  We never did hear a word from mom, ever.  One would think she'd pick up the phone and call me and ask, "Where is Austen" - something from mom.  Because she never called, or asked where he was and why we stopped bringing him, we were certain  she was part of this decision.

OK, so I asked mom last week, why she did this?  And explained that years of this type of behavior have contributed to how and why myself, my husband and children don't feel as warm and fuzzy about her and my dad as my sister and her kids feel!  My mom spent most of her time with my sister and her kids.  And it was so bad during the time my kids were in grammar school that one time I went to the grocery store in my town and there was my mom and dad getting out of the car with my sister and her family!  Mom lives quite a distance away!  My sister lived close to me.  I never heard a word from mom or dad, didn't even know they were in town.  They  came out to attend my nieces dance recital.  Wow, that left me feeling like I had been kicked in the stomach, there I went...falling down, down, down, spiraling out of contrl as I drove home trying to make sense of what just happened.  We were supposedly such a close family.  

My moms response to why she decided that my sisters kids come first was,  a blank stare.  No response.  She does not have a reason for why she has behaved this way for most of my life.  She can't explain why she went along with my dad, chose this man over me to the point of alienating me.   I explained to her because she chose him, and abandoned me for years, I have different feelings for her.   She did not have a response.  I asked her why she has done this to me for all of my life, she said "I don't know."

What do I do with this response?  She cannot explain why she has done this to me my entire life.  She states that she always loved me, and felt the same about me as she did my sister.  I actually told mom, "I want to believe you - but I don't."  How could she leave me and my son like that?  And 26 years later pretend it never happened?  My son with epilepsy is the 2nd born out of all the kids between my sister and I.  It wasn't until my sister had her 2nd child I was told that her kids come first.

There are so many unspoken, and unresolved issues between mom and I,  its probably reasonable to say they will never get resolved.  I told mom we could go to counseling, she did not respond.

Years ago we lost our lease because our landlord sold the town home we had planned on buying, we couldn't find a place to live, it was summer time and our oldest was in middle school, and the other kids were in grammar school.  The infamous summer when my own mom told me to go live in a homeless shelter with my kids, after asking if we could stay with her until finding another rental.  This was talked about last week too, mom denying she ever said that to me.  For the first time I called her out on this.  All 5 of us ended up staying in our motorhome at my brother in laws house in the middle of summer, the heat was triple digits.   It was hell, and our son was having seizures and crying all the time, none of us slept much that summer.  My mom had the nerve to drive out to my brother in laws house, look over our living situation and conditions, and never offered to let us stay with her even after that.  I asked her last week how she could do such a thing to me, and that I would NEVER do this to my child, regardless of their age.  My mom ladies and gentlemen, did not have an answer or reason.

Its almost like my mom has no credibility,  like she is literally checked out, and has been checked out of life since I can remember.    She has been brainwashed, is what I told her, by my dad.  A man she has not liked and  wanted to divorce since I was a kid.  She somewhat agreed, but cannot for the life of her change her life.  Her life is the same, nothing has changed, and sadly I think she will remain in this situation in this lifetime.  








Tuesday, April 28, 2015

My life, The Truman Show....

I wasn't adopted by a corporation, but after mom told me last week that it was my dads sperm that were the problem that kept them from having another baby, I've been in deep thought.

So much has been said in this past week, as my dad told us that he doesn't want to continue to live once he is totally blind, and that is something that is coming any day.

It makes sense why he has never liked me or wanted me.  Maybe he did while I was cute and couldn't really communicate.

It also makes sense why mom never fully bonded with me.  She wanted to adopt and dad did not.  So liking and loving me meant betraying her husband.

She always chose him, instead of me.

I'm not sure what this means to me, exactly.  I just know mom told me she wishes she could go back and make other choices, even though her life is exactly the same today as it was back then.  She still refuses to make different choices with my dad now.

Can I believe what she says?  I'm not sure?  Does it matter?  Where do I fit in to this family, and why can't all of us talk about it, with real meaning and stop pretending it doesn't exist?


Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Seriously can't believe this!

My husband drove me to my parents house late tonight.  Since my accident a few weeks ago I'm still scared to drive the crazy freeway.

My mom is going in for an angiogram, she may need a stent or if that is not possible, open heart surgery.  She is not planning on that, so I don't know what is going to happen.

My sister cannot get here until tomorrow night, so I came early so she is not alone the day before the procedure.

My last visit was hell, no nice way to put it.  I stayed up 3 nights in a row to get the real picture of what is going on here when my sister and I are not around.  My sister doesn't spend the night,  she comes for a visit during the day.  Although she did spend the night for the first time in a long time, last week.

So we decide to go to bed , mom comes into the room and tells me she cleaned off the other bed, and not to sleep in the bed I always sleep in when I come here.  Mind you I'm here all the time, and I stay days at a time.  I'm at a loss for words.  She tells me no, that is my sisters bed, you sleep in this one.

Now this sounds trivial to a lot of people out there, Im sure!  So...I stay here days on end on a regular basis, my sister stays one time  and I don't get to sleep in the same bed I always sleep in?  And this is the bed with the mattress topper!

OK, whatever.  I text my husband, and tell him what mom said.  He always knows how to get me out of this funk.  He responds by saying, "Thats because your just a number."   I laughed to myself.  And responded to him, "Yep, your right."  His response sounds mean, but its not.  Its dreadfully true.  My adoption papers all state baby girl #, no name, and so that is our inside joke.  I am not a real daughter, just a number, a purchase of theirs.  Basically, I do not count.  That is how he jolts me out of this la-la land of wanting a good mom, and to not feel sad, etc.

So I sit here, on top of my bed at my parents house typing this blog.  In the dark, as I plan on sleeping on top of this bed, not to dirty my sisters sheets!  Wow, what a punch in the gut.  Who are they kidding, and how much can a person take.   I am very glad I brought 2 bottles of wine to soften the blows from mom this week, maybe I will sleep and not lay awake wondering why I'm here, away from my family, trying to help a woman that really doesn't care or think very highly of me or even want me here.

Adoption will never work for me.  And I know that I will have to make peace with this mess and somehow be a better person and not get all choked up  and feel like I've shrunk back to age 10!!!    I have to be the better person, take care of people that don't care for me.  Its tough, but has to be done, with character, and kindness.  Its a big test, and I have to pass this one.  Maybe that is why I have been put here, in this situation, with these people?

Monday, April 13, 2015

auto pilot

Thats how my life is.  Around my parents and sister & her family.  Auto pilot.   Whats been taught and just about beat into me as a kid, just automatically happens.  Cathy, the good girl.  That is who I'm supposed to be.  Its awful to think that Cathy, the adoptee, could or would be bad.  Choose to do something wrong.   Its much more "Wrong, or shocking"  when an adoptee does something...bad.  In their eyes.

Its not just with regards to the family, its much more widespread.  Your so afraid of being bad just from being born, that you live your whole life second guessing each and every move you make.

Thinking that you will be judged, as the bastard kid that nobody wanted.   You think to yourself, a lot of stuff that I'm guessing other kids never think.

So theres this story I want to share.  One that is just unfolding now.  Today.  This week.

My parents health is failing.   Long story short, it was told to my moms sister,  to contact my sister, not me, to get the updates regarding moms health.  I guess I am not a reliable source.  I am not trust worthy like my counterpart.  The child they gave birth to.

When does the stupidity end?  When will these people get their heads out of foreign places and smell the fresh air and become human?

Because I was not born from this woman's body does not make me a gremlin.  A monster.

Because I was abused by my own mothers husband, yes my dad, I am considered to be unreliable.  Because I am not blood.   That automatically makes me a trespasser, someone you cannot trust.

My moms sister told me what my own mother said to her this week.  Don't contact Cathy, contact ......and named my sister.

What does this mean?

I am so over fighting to find my place.  To prove that I am worthy, that I am good.

In two months I will be 50.  I think its safe to say this will never end.  The stupidity will continue, and I will never, ever, get what I want.  Its just not in the cards for me.


Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Having your mom is important

I cannot express enough in words how important it is for (a girl) to have her mom.  I dont doubt its important for a boy as well, I just happen to be a girl!

In analyzing my relationship with my own daughter I realize all that I have missed with my own mom.  I mean I already knew there were major differences, its just that life happens, and we live it, and then one day we say, hey, wait a minute!  Hold on!  Im not even going to enter my birth mom into this mix.  The birth woman has never said "I love you" or tried to be part of my life, or acted like any mother I've known.

I could sit here and type all of the things I did not get.  And all of the good things I did get.

But its not about the stuff.  Its about the feelings associated with the good stuff, those special moments, the wonderful memories you remember your entire life.  And, the feelings associated with the yuck, ugly stuff.

One of the major differences between my sister and I.  She adores my mom, I see it all the time.  She has actually made comments about how lucky we are to have such a great mom.  I sit in silence, no real response for her.  Sure she's a pretty darn good person.  But apparently we've had different mothers all these years!  

Notice I said person, not mom.  She is a good person.  She just isnt the greatest  mom to me.  I'd have to say in all honesty, being brutally honest, that she has been a pretty good mom to my sister.  Wow, that was hard to admit.

What does this mean?  Does she not like me as much as my sister?  Or did she not bond with me the same as my sister?   I dont know the real answer, only how I feel and what I have observed most of my life.  I dont think she is aware of this so I doubt I will ever get an answer.

Carrying a baby for all those months, childbirth and bonding.  All of these things make a difference.  So you have your baby, the baby looks like your family....another difference.  Similar personalities, another difference.  Oh, and I always hear from people,  a story about  their own family, how this sister or brother was so different and didnt look the same or act the same as them or anyone in their family.  Uh, yeah, but nope, that brother or sister had his/her mom, right?  So...the point is...it is not the same.  

I feel this difference all the time.  Its like the family dance I'm not part of, that I've blogged about before. They are all speaking a language I dont understand.   I dont have the same feelings for my mom that I have for my own daughter and the urgency and bond with mom as I do with my own children.  I realize I am the daughter in this relationship with my mom, but I should feel similarly.  Right?  I should have the same enthusiasm and desire my sister has with mom and vice versa.  I know I should but I cant make it happen and neither can mom.

It is not my fault I feel this way.  I dont even know if its moms fault either.   In 1965 there wasnt the proper counseling to cope with loss of fertility or how to cope with a macho husband who had the issue of not being able to produce baby #2.  I do understand this intellectually, I just dont understand it emotionally.    




Moms just as sick as dad....

I spent a couple of days with mom.  Mainly helped with dad, he's really bad.  Hard to believe he's still here to be honest.  Shocking to see him, my daughter saw him while she was visiting and said he did not look alive.  She is right, its an awful process, being in hospice, and dying.

I dropped mom off at the doctor, and while she was gone dads hospice nurse came.  I was glad to get a chance to talk to her.  There were some questions she wanted answered which she asked in a very proper way.  Once I explained, she understood and things made sense now,  she said.

She was looking at the pictures on the wall,  my wedding picture.  She said oh maybe you look like your dad?  I said no, actually I was adopted.  She said, "Oh, your the adopted one."   I said yes, I am.  Which means my mom is up to her old tricks and telling I was adopted again.  I was surprised when I met the lady she hired to watch dad while she's gone.  Mom made a comment like oh yeah, she's the adopted one, I love her even if I didn't give birth to her.  Made this big fuss.  For once I had nothing to say!  hahaha!  She's never told people I was adopted.  I did not understand why now?

So I figured out why now while at moms house last week.  The hospice nurse told me some things that mom had told her, that were not true.  Lies.  Things that she should not be lying about.  The nurse said oh your mom loves you.  And she elaborated on this, saying how mom talks about us, and our family, as though we lived in a house filled with love.  Mom has painted a picture of a perfect life she has lived with her husband, my dad.  The nurse said how lucky I was, oh LORD I thought.  LUCKY? What does that mean anyhow, lucky?     Luck means "good fortune; advantage or success, considered as the result of chance."  

I paused for a moment, and I said to the nurse, "Yes, I'd like to be able to say and mean what you just said to me.  I'd like to feel that mom loves me, and mean it."  I told her that I was working hard, at being able to see this, to feel it and believe it.  I realized last week, it may never happen.  I may never be able to have those feelings.  I cannot think of a feeling I'd rather have, and I will continue to dig deep to be able to say the words, and believe them.  What I saw of mom last week was her pretending, and lying to the nurse and after speaking with her sister I realized she's lying to her, about everything.

I really believe when the nurse or other strangers come to the house, she paints this picture of her life, that is not real.  Maybe it makes her reality easier?   Maybe it brings her happiness to pretend her life has been happy?  Her sister told me that she asked mom what she thought she did in her life that led her down this road, to be so unhappy for so many years and to suffer this way?  What did you do wrong in your life?  Mom had no answer.   The worst part is, mom tells these people that visit that she has so many friends.  She has people she sees when she goes to church and goes to her exercise class twice a week.   She sees this lady while in church, does nothing with her afterwards or speak to her other times, just while sitting in the pew.  And she talks to people at the class she takes.  Thats it.  She has painted a picture of having friends she see's and is active with.  Makes me sad to think that she has to make these things up, and to paint a picture of a happy life that does not and has not ever existed.

Moms entire life has been make believe.  She has lived alone, and unhappy.  Yet she defends her position, and refuses to make any changes even now, when my dad is laying in bed 23.5 hours per day, unable to see or do anything.  She refused to move a box of lightbulbs to a place she didn't have to use a ladder to get, because she would not move anything my dad has in the house, or throw away anything of his.  She locks the house up like we are living in a maximum security prison, bars on the windows and she still locks the dead bolt around 7pm, locking us inside as dad has done 30 years.   My moms mental illness is like my dads, she IS mentally ill.  This is something I have grown to realize in the past year.  She is just as much to blame for the abuse and neglect I endured as he is.  She is his partner in crime, so to speak.  This is going to require a lot of review in my head.  

Mom is a sick lady, she is not mentally well.  How will I process this now that I am certain that she is as much to blame, if not more to blame for years of abuse?  The times I thought it was just dad, turns out to be that mom was in the drivers seat.  

Saturday, February 14, 2015

its important to examine the past

My birth mom found me when I was 19, in November of 1984.   She contacted my mom and talked to her first.  I was not living at home at the time.

My parents anniversary is in November as well.  

This same year, in November of 1984 was also the last time my dad physically hit me.

It wasn't until just recently I realized why he had this huge blowout, meltdown, and came charging down the hall and punched me in the face, twice.

I had no idea why he did this, he and mom had been shopping for antiques that day.  Came home and I showed up and next thing I know, dad is running down the hall and  I'm almost knocked out.

He must have gone {more] crazy that she had found me and there was an upcoming reunion?

We met the next month, in December and my dad was trying to fix up the house, he actually put up the shutters on the outside of the house he had previously taken down in one of his paranoid rages.  I guess at the time, being 19, I did not give it much thought.  But for him to do this, meant he wanted to make a good impression, and the house looked so bad from him ripping out all of the plants in our front yard, putting up security bars on every window and taking down the cute shutters around the windows.

HUGE LIGHT WENT OFF IN MY HEAD when I realized the timing of my dads blowup.  Here I was, just a kid and I was expected to endure this man cold cocking me in the face twice while sitting down, and expected to know why! Nothing had happened, that I could think of, we hadn't even spoke that day!    If he really was upset about my birth mom finding me, why didn't he just sit down and say he was upset, or worried or something?  And for heavens sake, why was he upset anyhow?  This is the same man that would tell me to stay away from his daughter (my sister) saying that I was not his daughter, while pushing me aside.  He didn't give a darn how I felt, obviously not even after birth mom found me.  Just about knocking me out, at the time and for all these years I thought he did this because of his hatred towards me.

I got up from my chair, pushed him as hard as I could, I was stunned, and he was pretty heavy at the time and I was a mere size 2 if that.   I went storming for the telephone.  I screamed, that I was calling the police and having him arrested.  Mom started crying, saying it was her anniversary, and she didn't want dad to go to jail.  I screamed out loud,  that he would never hit me again, this was the last time.  And I meant it.  Its funny in those days we had the home phone on a super long cord so you could walk around the house with it and talk.   I remember pacing around with the phone in my hand,  ready to dial the police.

Amazing I ever spoke to him again, writing this blog it amazes me that I continued to act out the motions of being the daughter and sister in this family.   Mom even lied about it happening after the fact, made it out to be something different than it really was.  All I knew was that I got punched, while sitting down at the kitchen table, looking at antiques mom had just bought.   There was no way of changing this story into something different!

Whats sick is, mom probably knows why it happened to begin with.  She lived with him, and I guarantee he was spouting off at the mouth about my birth mom coming to meet us.  No way was he quiet about it, just not his style.

During our reunion time I had driven down to the Orange County area to see the birth families on my own, after the initial meeting with my birth mom & full brother at my parents house.  My dad had screamed at me to never talk to him again, that basically I could change my name and take theirs and never have anything to do with him again.  He was fine with this.  As though it was all my fault they chose adoption.

It amazes me, that it has taken all these years to figure this out.  This November it will be 31 years since this happened!  I'd like to say that none of this matters, but that would be sweeping it under the carpet and allowing it to build and build until one day it would come busting out of the seams.  Really understanding and believing that I was and still am a good girl, a nice girl, is important to me.  For years I thought I was seriously defective, a bad girl, and that it was my fault that neither of my parents loved or cared about me.

I cannot tell you what a revelation it was figuring this out.  I bet there are many other incidents in my life, like this I have yet to figure out.







Sunday, February 8, 2015

Daughter annoyed by birth moms "Thank You" card

My daughter came home from college to visit this past week, and I showed her the "Thank You" card I received from my birth mom for sending her a Christmas card.  I asked her what she thought.

I handed her the card, and she quickly gave it back to me saying she could not read it, she had seen enough and it was ridiculous that she would send me a "Thank You" card in turn for sending her a Christmas card.   She did not want to know what else she wrote, she somewhat shushed me up.

She is right, its strange that she sent me this card, and I wish I understood her purpose.  She's not written me in years,  has never sent the kids birthday cards, or Christmas cards to us, so why this card?

Why not an apology letter instead?  Apologizing for betraying me?  Clearly she has no plan on sending me that type of card or she would have done it by now.    How about a simple card, saying just "Sorry" - asking to move forward and forgive her.   30+ years into reunion, you'd think this would be easy for her to do, apologize and realize what she's done. I met her when I was 19, and I'm turning 50 on June 8th this year.

Its almost ironic that she wants to believe that I am the crazy one, point the finger at me for what she has done over the years.  Make me into the one that has caused all the problems.  Wish she'd get real, wake up, and take responsibility for her actions.  I have apologized for being mad, in turn, for her craziness.  There is not much more I can do...to make her realize what she has done.  Sometimes I imagine just shaking her, slapping her face and telling her to wake up.  I have even suggested many times to go to counseling.  But honestly, when a person refuses to face themselves, for whatever the reason and can easily betray their own daughter, telling others she is mentally ill and a liar, then I honestly doubt I can shake her back into reality.  This is work she has to do on her own.

Maybe the card is the first step?  Or maybe she just wants something from me?




Sunday, January 25, 2015

"Get over it"

Who do others say this so often?  "Get over it."  Is this how we, as a society have been taught to process our loss, grief and emotions?

Not allowing us to ever process it, by being told, just get over it and in my own opinion, just shut up I dont want to hear you...is what they mean.

And how do we "Get over it" I'd like to know when these brilliant people demand we do this?  Any suggestions?  Find God, pray, join a club, move on....the options are endless.

This is why our children are the same as us, and the cycle continues, never broken are the chains, our loss, grief and whatever else you want to add to the list.

I think its somewhat sad, that society expect babies & children to be born of another woman, to  be taken away, raised with other people and then expects them to have zero issues, questions, or loss and grief.  Thats like saying we dont, as a society know that cigarettes are bad for our health, cause possible fetal damage when pregnant.  We know it, its talked about, and agreed upon.  Why is it then, that adoption is swept, right under the carpet, with so many arguments?  WHY?

So I was born to this woman, and then taken away, yet nobody is supposed to have a problem down the line?  Really?  Why is it that some people in this year in time when all you gotta do is speak into a cell phone to get directions  cant accept that adoption automatically brings loss and grief.  When I speak about it with my own family, you'd think that I had just grown an alien head.   Is it that far fetched to think that adoption brings such loss for everyone involved?

Loss of fertility for the adoptive parents, who sometimes would like to pretend the word fertility doesnt even exist or that they couldnt have their own baby is really no big deal.  Yeah right!  Or that someone like me,  taken away at birth, that I would not have any recollection of this as I became a toddler.  Or that my birth mom was supposed to leave the maternity home for unwed mothers with a clean slate, and pretend like nothing happened, after being told that in a few months it will be like nothing ever happened.  REALLY?  Even now, in year 2014, people look at me like I'm the crazy one when I mention the primal wound, of being ripped apart from one's birth mom, even if that woman you find out later on is not a good person.  That is not the topic of debate, its the fact that we have been torn away from our mothers, yet we are expected to bounce back and pretend this really isn't a big deal, nor does it affect us in any way!






Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Stripped of my heritage

Out of the blue my daughter texted me and asked what tribe (we)  my birth family is from.  I have to dig out my birth family information to give her the answer.    Haven't done that yet.

I told her that it doesn't matter anyhow, I cannot prove who I am.  She responded with a "Huh."  I had to remind her that I don't have my real birth certificate, so as far as the system is concerned, I am not that person because of adoption.   Its quite an irony, I am not biologically attached to my adoptive family either.  This in turn gives my children the same issue.  Its like stripping someone of their ancestry.  Once I explained this to my daughter, she was shocked.  She had not thought of that before.   She asked how to get my original birth certificate, and I explained I'd have to go to court and doubt I'd actually get it.  She was so mad!

Nope, most people don't think of this, what is stripped away from a baby when she's given up for adoption.  I texted my daughter this in response to her shock.  "Hence, my blog Who am I anyhow."
My daughter didn't respond to that text.  But I have been thinking about it a lot.  The dreaded question  I think I have the answer for with my 50th year of life quickly approaching.   It's a battle of managing myself,  alone.   You wouldn't believe what goes through my head on a daily basis.

I hate not having my ancestry for my kids, I resent it.   I am part Native American, and it's not that far removed, my birth fathers grandmother.    Because of adoption we can't claim our own heritage or ancestry, and its going to continue for generations, when my kids have kids, etc.   Do the adoption peddlers have any idea what they are doing when they break up families, or do they just not give a darn?  Can they grasp the devastation they are creating for generations to come?  



Sunday, January 4, 2015

Whats up with my birth father?

We've been in reunion since 1984.   His family believed I was someone else's baby.   When I met him it was obvious that was not true.  Because my birth mom is Lebanese, and I turned out looking like him, was the smoking gun!  hahaha!

So I send him a Christmas card every year, for the past 12+ years.  This year I got it back in the mail. Says  "Return to sender" - "Attempted - Not known"  "Unable to forward"  -  this means he picked this one piece of mail out, and handed it back to the mailman I assume he probably knows.  He is the only person living in this house and has lived there for about 29 years.  My aunt, his sister, was just there last week!  ha!

So why would he do this?  He is friends with my oldest son on Facebook.  And I unfriended him, but he requested to list me as his daughter!

Anyhow, its somewhat of a rhetorical question.  Or should I say its more of a million dollar question? 

I don't feel bad, not really.  I'm curious.  And what I really want from him is, a DNA test.  To once and for all prove that yes, he is my biological father.  Something that seems fairly logical to me.  I have never asked him, because I really know what he will say.

I've never asked this man for a single dime, and he's really not gone out of his way to have anything to do with me or my family.  He really has nothing to do with my brother either.  You can safely say he is not winning any father of the year contests.

I blurred his full name and address, here is the envelope.  My youngest son said to send him a Harry Potter load of mail, overwhelm him with a ton of mail!  I wouldn't waste my time.  I may send it again, and to be honest, I was expecting him to do this for some reason, and was looking in the mail every day for this exact thing!  Sixth sense?  YEP!