"Why Can't You Just Be Happy?" (Five Truths to Understand)

I have friends who fight human trafficking.

Friends who fight domestic violence.

Friends who fight racism.

Friends who fight world hunger.

Photo Credit: Lincoln Blues, Flickr

Everyone around them seems to think this is great. (Me included!) Nobody seems to ever ask these friends why they continue to care about these issues, or why they can’t just be happy.

This happens to me about adoptee issues, though. A family member recently remarked, "I just wish you could be happy..." Be careful, you might end up in my blog. This might be worse than gastritis, depending on the situation.

I Want An Apology!

I am an adoptee from the Baby Scoop Era. (BSE)

Photo Credit: Butupa, Creative Commons

I’m accustomed to getting weird looks when I mention the BSE to people. I have discovered that most people have no idea about this huge event in our nation's history -- and our world history, that affects millions of people.

Notice I said affects.

Not affected.

Affects.  

Present tense.

When my birth mother became pregnant, she was kicked out of the house by her father.

She was forced to move across the state to the Florence Crittenton Maternity Home and live in hiding. 

She was ostracized. Shamed. An outcast of society.