Dear Birth Mother...Please Hit "Reply"

If you have read through this blog, you probably know that I searched and found my biological mother using the ever so popular social networking website MYSPACE. Over the past three and a half years, I have used facebook to track down all of my biological siblings. Most recently, I found the last one...my 19 year old sister Cathy was easily found by simply typing her first and last names into the facebook search engine.

I feel rather blessed that I have been able to reunite with everyone and keep in touch with them by just signing online. Interestingly enough, many adoptees have used these websites to do the same thing. My brother sent me THIS article a few weeks ago. I, of course enjoyed it and decided to post it on my blog for those who may be interested.

I hope everyone has a relaxing and safe labor day weekend.
PEACE!!!!

SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, POR FAVOR!!!!

Well, there is a lot to be said about the brave American troops that provide safety to our families each and every single day. I am not sure one can understand the sacrifices they make to fight for our nation. However, I encourage you all to check out THIS website and try.


A local Maryland hero was killed in action in late February, leaving behind his pregnant wife and 2 year old son. His beautiful wife has shown a tremendous amount of courage in the months since her husbands passing and is on a current mission to remember ALL the American troops lost during the wars on terrorism.


The mission is simple. She is holding a 5k race in memory of her fallen husband. En route to the race, she will be displaying American Flags...ONE flag for each member of our services who has died at war. Not only will the 5 THOUSAND flags on display help show just HOW many lives have been lost BUT the proceeds will be donated to help her children and other military families in need. SO, help her on her mission by supporting her cause...PLEASE? Only 5 bucks for each flag. And while I know money is tight for everyone these days, if you just give up ONE drink at the bar or ONE pack of cigarettes, you can help support our troops.


Just remember...while you are sitting at home spending time with your spouse, children, or just with yourself- someone is dying in the line of duty...they were fighting for YOU. Please visit www.bubbasbellyrun.com for more information.

PEACEEEEE.

Philly Demonstration Day!!!

Today is the day that many brave adoptee's, birth mothers and their support systems will be protesting adoptee rights in Philadelphia, PA. I am so proud of all the brave souls that have made the journey to Philly this week!!!


As much as I had hoped to be there, I did not make the trip. I went on our usual family vacation to the beach for 12 days and have had to miss additional work days to attend my doctor appointments for my pregnancy (which is going well- thank God). All my missed days have taken up my paid vacation for the year and considering I will stop working in 5 months, I couldn't afford to miss more work this week and attend. I have been thinking about all those that are there so much...I am there in spirit for sure.


Adoptee rights are VERY important to me. I strongly believe that ALL humans should be granted the same right to their original identity and I find it rather disturbing that adoptees do not have the same rights as those who have remained with their birth families. SO, let's all hope the demonstrators get something accomplished today and during the remainder of the week. GOOD LUCK!!!


PEACE for all...

26 Years and Counting...

Well. Next week I will be celebrating my 26th birthday. I use each year at birthday time to reflect on myself and set goals that I would like to accomplish in the upcoming year of my life. This year, as I zero in on my 26th year of life on this planet- I feel pretty good.

First and foremost- I have stayed away from alcohol for over a year. I officially quit drinking in March of 2008 and have not had ONE sip of alcohol since I declared my desire to fight the alcoholism that was blossoming in my daily life. With that, I also came off of my anti-anxiety medicine that I have been ever so dependent upon for the last 11 years of my life. Emotionally and psychologically, I feel better than I ever have before in my life. NICEEEEE.

I cannot however escape the memories that I have of feeling that I could never birth another child out of fear that there was NO WAY I could stop drinking for a full nine months. Kinda crazy, right? Well I am happy to say that fear no longer poisons my soul. Infact, I am currently carrying a little fetus in my womb and my husband, son and myself will welcome our new addition in January :)

I am not really sure what I have planned for the upcoming year but I have set a few goals for myself. For example, I hope to purchase my first home. I hope to birth a healthy baby in the most natural way I can despite the common trend to only have C-sections after you have already had one. I hope to attend adoptee rights day...despite my overwhelming anxiety of traveling and large crowds which I can no longer "xanax" away. And as always, I hope to be a good wife to my husband and a good mother to my children.

If I come up with more ideas and goals- I will post them. I also have some pictures to post once I get access to a computer rather than my blackberry. For now, I am desperately trying to beat this nausea and get through the last week and a half of my first trimester. I hope everyone is enjoying summer :)

PEACEEEEEEE...

A Pleasant Surprise...!!!

Well...I have totally sucked at blogging these days...or maybe I should say these MONTHS. Ever since I hit that rocky road, I somewhat distanced myself from my reunion with my birth family. I tried to explain the way I was feeling to my family and they couldn't have been LESS understanding which completely turned me off. So I've been chilling and enjoying some exciting things going on in my personal life. I will save those for another day though.

My biological family rarely makes any effort to contact me. For the past 3 and a half years, I am almost always the one to contact them. I can probably count the amount of times they have called me using both hands. Which brings me to my surprise!!! My mother and her husband called me at work a few days ago!!! I loved that!!! When I answered the phone, I heard a long "Rachelllllllll"...and I got SO excited! It was the best day ever!

But even better than the phone call itself is my mothers LAUGH. I LOVE it when she laughs. She has this pretty, genuine, deep laugh that will make almost anyone smile. Its one of my favorite things about her :) When she told me that her Cat was pregnant AGAIN...I responded by saying that the kitty was "CALIENTE"!!! A word in my country that means sexually frisky or hot. I learned that the hard way when I was in Chile and tried to use the word to describe the extreme heat beating on my body. I immediately got dirty looks and chuckles from my family who then proceeded to tell me to NEVER use that word unless I was calling myself a slut or whore. OOPS!!! Anyways, when I called the family cat "caliente" my dear mother broke out in a ROARING laugh...and I LOVED every second of it.

That was my pleasant surprise that has pretty much washed the sour taste out of my mouth that I had developed about my familia. Happy days to come?!? Let's hope so!!!

Hope everyone is well in this blogging world...I plan to be posting a little more regularly :) Until next time, Peace Out my amigos!!!

KNOW YOUR RIGHTS!!!!

So, I've been wanting to blog about this for a while and I am finally getting around to it. There is an adoptee rights demonstration being held in Philadelphia, PA on July 21st of this year. I will be attending with some of my family and joining my friends who have introduced me to the event...(Hi JIM!!! THANK YOU Jim!!!)

For anyone who does not know, adopteed people do not have rights to their original birth certificates, often making our enterance to this world somewhat questionable. I should mention that FEW states DO allow adoptees to have a copy but still, just because you're adopted doesn't mean you should not have the REAL thing. While this may not seem like a big deal to some, I highly DOUBT you would dispose of YOUR childs birth certificate. If birth certificates weren't important, people wouldn't hold on to them.

SOOOO, a group of adopted people and their loved ones will be getting together to protest the laws that prevent adoptees from having access to their identity. While a change in law would not help me obtain my birth certificate (the international adoption system is FAR more jacked up) I am excited about participating so that my friends and fellow American people may one day have access to theirs.

I will be talking more about the demonstration and why it is important to me over the next few months. In the mean while, if you would like more information please click HERE and check it out.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.
PEACEEEEEE.

Gaby takes on NYC...

Remember a few months ago when I posted an entry about my girl Gabriella who helped make my adoption reunion possible? WELL, Gaby is coming to the US!!! She is taking on NYC and I will have the pleasure of meeting her there in early May...she's the beauty pictured above :)

I am leaving for Brooklyn in a couple weeks for my brothers NYU Graduation (YEAAAAHHH AARON!!!). I am so proud of him and so glad that I will get to finally meet Gaby in person during my trip to celebrate my bro.

It's ROASTING HOT here in D.C. this weekend. Excuse me while I step outside for the next couple days to soak up the sun...and maybe shed a few pounds that I have put on this winter?!?!

PEACEEEEEEEEEE.