Monday, August 09, 2010

But Then There Is This...

Out of over thirty photos taken yesterday, this one made me cry. Just when I get so tired of all the frustration, infighting and roller-coaster riding, something happens to make me remember why I am in this activism arena. It about the disruption of the most sacred bond there is...that between mother and child.

This is just a woman giving her mother a kiss on the cheek. What makes it so bittersweet, is that this kiss has been delayed for 47 years. The mother was just 17 when she was railroaded by  family members and the SC Children's Bureau into surrendering her newborn daughter. She was allowed to hold her baby girl for 10 minutes before she was taken away.

What was done to these two women, one a girl, the other an infant at the time, was heinous. It was wrong then, it is wrong now and it will be wrong in the future. I have known this mother for most of my life and we shared an experience that changed us forever. She, another friend from our hometown, and I have been doing a lot of catching up, lately. No matter how new into reunion my friend was, we found ourselves all talking the same language...the language of lies, loss, grief and anger. They are still at the "beemommy" stage, but the lies in the non-ID my friend's daughter received got her cranked up about how things were handled.
After 47 years, she is seeing how badly we were used and how emotionally damaging the actions of those who forced and coerced were to us and our children.

They both have a way to go before they can see beyond reunion to wanting to do anything about the crimes of the industry. But, if daughter is like mother, they are both fighters and will have their say. I already know they were using the term, "bullsh**" as they read through things yesterday. There is an old saying  that it doesn't take a PHD in crap to know when it smells. I think, along with all the wonder and love, they caught a whiff of the odor of injustice. Time will tell.

Meanwhile, enjoy the pink cloud, gals. You have both earned it.

5 comments:

Yoli said...

Glad they finally found one another.

Lori said...

Sometimes beauty can be so simple.

Mother said...

This brings back memories of seeing my son's face for the first time.

Took 26 yrs but it was first time I ever saw his face. Of course, I got to hold him 26 yrs later too.

loving this Robin tell your friend congratulations/

Unknown said...

I was thinking of thefirst time I touched my son's face, and felt his hug,when he was in his 40's .

Anonymous said...

I got to hold my wonderful son when he was 25. He gave me a huge hug. Congrats to your friend.

BTW - my son was also fed a load of bull. It was so bad, it almost stopped our reunion from happening. There was not a shred of truth in the whole thing. They even got my age wrong.