Category: Open Adoption
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On Fears And Expanding Horizons
I park and zip my rather loose fleece jacket as I step out the driver’s seat. I open the passenger door and Ammu and Pattu clamber out. I remind Ammu she needs her light jacket. She pauses as if to challenge me and reaches for her old faded grey fleece. I remember to lock the…
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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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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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Of Struggling With Labels
Collected in The Smudged Hyphen (2026). “I don’t like my fake name” muttered Ammu, my first daughter. I was bent over the stove tossing rice noodles in a base of lemon and sesame oil. The heady aroma of tempered mustard and curry leaves almost made me miss the statement. A part of me always attuned…
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Open Adoption – Reflections On The Journey
I sat at my desk browsing for gifts, ears keenly attuned to the sounds from the adjoining family room. I’d let my twins sit at their table, their art pads open and one single instruction. “Make a card and write a note in it for your mom’s birthday. All I ask is that you think…
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Revisit, Reconnect, Renew
We reached in the dead of the night, picking up room keys from a sleepy employee who went through the motions of showing of where our room was and mentioning breakfast would be served from 6:30 AM to 9:30 AM. Setting an alarm for 6:00, we fell into a sleep that was deep and devoid…