Category: Adoption
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Breaching New Frontiers: Adoption Retreat
This weekend I will be flying out to Columbus, OH to be part of an adoption retreat hosted by the Dave Thomas Foundation and organized by Susan Silverman, a Rabbi, and her organization Second Nurture. To say I am excited is an understatement. Over the past eight years, I have been touched by adoption in…
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A Word Here, A Connection There
In the many years, I have been a blogger, I have often paused to consider what I am doing. I have often been asked why I share so much, put so much of myself online. The questions have made me reevaluate what I do, how I write and how much I share. The breaks have…
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Identity And Belonging
Two nights ago, I sat in a darkened room at my local library with a bunch of strangers watching a documentary on race. “I am or How Jack Became Black” by Eli Steele is one of those rare movies that catalyzes uncomfortable conversations. I stood by the small table I had set up with snacks…
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Book Review: Lucky Boy by Shanthi Sekaran
A friend recommended this book on Goodreads and on impulse, I checked it out from my library. At a little under 500 pages, it took me two days to finish the book. The story is about two women. Solimar from Mexico who dreams of getting to and building a life in America. Kavya, a Berkeley…
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On Air With The Takeaway
A month back I wrote about visiting the WHYY studio in Philadelphia to record a conversation with my children’s mother. We spoke about race, about what it means to share children across racial lines. Most of all, we spoke about the kind of world we want our children to inherit. The series is called Uncomfortable Truths.…
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Of Stories And Storytellers
Collected in The Smudged Hyphen (2026). I scan the tinted windows of the Amtrak train which a new friend boarded to get home. I hope to wave one final bye before I walk back to my car but can’t see her. I drive home on auto-pilot. The weekend has been interesting. It has been intense.…
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What Adoption Is NOT
Early this morning, I sat in my study, my chores done, the kids playing in the basement, Saathi out to work. I scrolled through my Facebook feed, then turned my attention to Twitter. After following chatter about #45’s early morning Twitter meltdown, I caught up on other friends. One conversation upset my equilibrium. I could…
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Hypotheticals
“Amma, can we please let Snowflake free?” Ammu pleads with me, still sleepy-eyed at 6:30 AM in the morning. “After you are back from school,” I say. “But amma, imagine if you were stuck in a box for monnnnnths…” she continues, her angst making her drag out the words. “I am not an elf and…
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Waking Up
The study door is locked. I have my earphones on. The house is eerily silent. My phone rings and for a second my heart stops. My “Hello!” is tentative as I wait for the voice on the other end. We talk for over forty-five minutes. My children’s mother, one of The Takeaway’s producers Dana Roberson…
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BBC Asia Radio Interview
The alarm went off at 3:00 AM and I stood sipping coffee in the cool back patio of my sister’s home while my Amma sat on the recliner inside listening intently to the radio online. She made a picture. Her eyes narrowed in focus, her glasses perched midway on her nose. Her coffee cup sat to…