How My “Brand” of 20 THINGS Developed

“I was adopted at ten days of age for the cost of $55.98! My parents loved me, but my Dad was abusive and Mom, neglectful. At age 20, I was married to the love of my life and we had two daughters. When I anticipated their birth, I began thinking about my birth mother for the first time ever. My parents told me about her when I was very young, but I couldn’t absorb the information. They were ahead of their time in that regard.”

Finding My Way Back Home

“So here I am as a 38 year old mother of three, a wife, a friend, a sister, a daughter, an aunt, and cousin; lost trying to find my way back to where it all started, in the highlands of Ethiopia, where the days were marked with coffee ceremonies, holy days, family, and so much more.”

Love and Acceptance

“Feeling loved is something that I have always wanted to feel in life. Growing up, I was told that I never smiled. I wasn’t happy. On the outside I seemed normal. I smiled when I felt like it, but on the inside I often fought back tears and struggled with the pain that I felt. I was different and I knew it. I didn’t have the same life story as all of my friends and family members, and I always wanted to be with my birth mom. I knew that I had two families. I knew them and I knew where they were and how to contact them. I felt abandoned and rejected by them. The people who should have loved me the most weren’t there.”

The Prayer of My Broken Heart

“Truth is that I have been told so often that I am loved, and worthy of so much more — that God offers me freedom and abundant life….but it feels like in this life, actions speak louder than words. The only action that I am constantly reminded of, which plays on repeat in the recesses of my mind is the fact that I was left behind. That I was abandoned.”