Memorial Day

Over the Memorial Day weekend, I went camping up past Strawberry Reservoir. I went with my birthfather, Jason, his wife Jenny, and my three sisters. Jenny's extended family own about half a mountain, and anybody we saw up there was related somehow. We slept in camper-trailers, we rode ATVs, and we went fishing. I will note here that I have been fishing once before, that I can remember, and it was at Paradise Pond when I was about 7. So this was a new experience for me. I didn't catch anything, but I had fun nonetheless.

Now, I'll admit that there were some awkward moments. Probably most of these people (since they were from my birthfather's wife's side) had no idea who I was. Jenny was a trooper at introductions, and most of them were polite enough to smile, nod, and pretend they understood, at least while I was present. They'd dig out the old skeletons when they weren't around. There was one woman--great aunt somebody from across the way--who was very confused, and said "Oh! I didn't know he had one of those" with an awkward pause afterward. Thankfully, that was as bad as it got.

On the whole, I really enjoyed being adopted. Growing up, it didn't mean a whole lot to me, because it was a closed adoption and I had very little information about my birthparents. No names, no pictures, only a short medical history and some basic stats. I thought about them sometimes, wondered what they were like, whether I had siblings out there. I always wanted sisters. And actually, I always wanted an older brother, though I knew that was impossible. (Michael filled in rather nicely.) But generally, the nice part about adoption came after I found out who they were.

It's like having two families. And in a good way. I have two sets of parents, I have three little sisters to tease (and hopefully be a good example for), I even have four sets of extended families. I'll tell you who's been the best about all of it, and it's Jenny, my birthfather's wife. She has no blood connection to me, she has no real reason to treat me as well as she does. But she does. She treats me like one of her own daughters--sometimes better! It's never awkward. And Jason loves me probably more than I deserve. He's exactly the kind of dad I always wished I had--big, boisterous, teasing, outgoing. Don't get me wrong, I love my father--he's a skinny, quiet guy who can do anything, and he's always there for me. But there's just something that I love about big, boisterous father figures. Now I've got two of the best dads in the whole world. No one could be luckier.

This is how I view adoption: it's gaining more family. It's just more people to love.