I was asked not too long ago, what do I think Adopters, and hopeful adopters should know … This is a difficult, complicated subject to approach.

It involves people’s hopes and dreams. It deals with wants versus needs, with griefs real and often unacknowledged. It’s a delicate class 1.1 explosive, sensitive and liable to detonate under fairly mild conditions. It seems too much.

I did something yesterday that promises to put me way out of my comfort zone. As a self-proclaimed introvert, I don't believe it would have happened without the aid of the ‘Creature’ as the Irish might say.

Before I get on to that, it got me thinking about the scrapes

The decisions leading up to you becoming an adoptee have been made for you; this is a very complicated process, and would have involved us successfully installing and initialising Relinquishment 1.0 firmware.

I recently overheard a conversation in which two people were discussing intrusive thoughts. “Oh god, I get them all the time,” said person one. My brain is always telling me I'm not good enough, or this and that are going to happen”. " Isn't that negative thinking?” Person two replied. That got me thinking: Do people really know the difference, and do I? 

Humans don’t come with an instruction manual, however, it was pointed out to me recently that I probably do. I’ll try to explain that.

This week (end of September 2024) marks one year since I self-published the book and as time has gone by, the urge to throw down some more words has increased. It helps to declutter the brain in a way that is unsurpassed by anything else I have tried before.

Being in a situation where an emotive response is the correct response comes with a heavy amount of pressure for me, imagine standing in front of an unexploded ticking bomb with a pair of wire cutters, and the only training you ever did was for a cycling proficiency certificate in 1981.

With the blog firmly in place, attracting over 6,000 views, and the book in the final throws of completion, I thought it would be a good idea to try and take stock.

This is just a quick blog post to say sorry and to do a quick update. I'm sorry that the blog has been a little quiet of late, but I've been super busy finalising the 'Who's Wally?' book. 

The writing has taken over my life these last few months, If I've not been at work or seeing my kids, I've been formulating blogs or chapters and I've thought of nothing else.

Back in 2005, I was asked to comment on my adoption by a journalist from ‘The Daily Telegraph’. Being the media whore I obviously was, I agreed.

Jumping forward to 2012 now and a Facebook message that took me completely by surprise said …

In the folder, at the back, I stored about 30 sheets of notepaper. Only the first sheet had any notes on it. I snapped the rings open and removed them for recycling, but something stopped me.

May 1999 and news that my application for gaining access to my adoption records had been processed

I have always known I was adopted, at least I can't recall any such time where I was told about it, and up until recently I would have told you that I haven't been affected by being adopted.

As I write this I'm about 10% into writing my experiences growing up as an adoptee. I was adopted as baby in 1973.