Parents...

I understand why adoptive parents find it difficult to talk to us about adoption. Its emotional, uncomfortable for both parties and a subject that adoptive parents can't relate to. So after this summer, I had a clear understanding why it was such a touchy subject and how hard it was to start that conversation. If the kids aren't talking about it, then how do the parent's bring it up? And why aren't the kids bringing it up, do they feel like they would hurt their parents feelings, or they're not encouraged to, or do they not feel comfortable talking to their parent's about it? Or do they feel like I did, when I tried and my parent's got all emotional and shut down, so made it hard for me to ever bring it up again. So I never did.

Closing that door has led to many suppressed issues over the years. I never had that environment where I felt safe and supported to talk about all of the emotions and issues I was feeling and going through. I can't blame my parent's entirely, but I can make them take responsibility for adopting a child of a different race. With that comes more than just giving us a home, love and family. Its a responsibility of making a promise that when we do have issues and questions, which we will, we can come and talk to them about it, and feel safe and encouraged to do so. That is part of the package, as difficult and uncomfortable as that might be, it's the responsibility of our parents to recognize that.