Every Year on Your Birthday – remembering the birth families

Children come into the foster care and adoption systems for many different reasons. Mothers do not give up their children lightly. For every child happily placed into a home, there is a birth mother who grieves.

Mee Mee was born on August 26^th. Gregory’s birthday is July 5^th. Since they were born in South Korea which is basically a day ahead of Pacific Standard Time in California, I always think of their birth mothers the day before their birthdays. I wonder how they are. Have they gone on to live happy lives? Do they still think of the children they placed for adoption and wonder how they are? When we traveled to Seoul, my children wrote a note to their birth mothers sharing what their lives are like here in the United States. These letters are tender and thankful but also wistful. Wonder if either birth mother has returned to the adoption agency and asked about their children? That’s one of the things about adoption. There are many unknowns.

Every Year on Your Birthday by Rose Lewis (author) and Jane Dyer (illustrator) is a favorite book of ours. It tells the story of a Chinese girl from the adoptive mother’s viewpoint. In simple yet lyrical text combined with soft and lovely illustrations, the story of this daughter unfolds as her birthday is celebrated each year. The journey to adopt and bring her home unfolds as Chinese traditions are shared. It ends with “Every year on your birthday, we look up at the stars and remember your Chinese family. They are a part of our family now, and I hope somehow they feel the magic of your love too.” Just beautiful.