Speak to me Grandma I’m alone in my thoughts
Speak to me Grandma You’re at home with the thought...
There’s a wind blowing off the top of Divide
Through the valley of our old St. Mary
You have thrice earned the rest that you’ve got
And the cross your fingers carry to beyond...
Now, I really can’t believe that you’re gone.
Speak to me Grandma, stories blossom in you
Speak to me Grandma legend blended with truth.
And your words brushed a portrait for us
In the Valley of our old St. Mary
Your eyes were the light for us
When our bodies couldn’t carry us beyond...
Now, I really can’t believe that you’re gone.
You felt the buffalo go
You heard the stagecoach roll
You saw booming Altyn rise and fall
You rode your pony upon
Moccasin Flat at century’s dawn
The trails became roads
and the roads became old...
We listened to the stories that you told.
You wed a man from the north
Then ten fine children came forth
Alex still is your groom.
You were the center of us.
Still in our valley we trust
The vision of St. Mary
appeared upon the lake
And leaves me in this fast-closing wake.
Speak to me Grandma I’m alone in my thoughts
Speak to me Grandma You’re at home with the thought...
There’s a wind blowing off the top of Divide
Through the valley of our old St. Mary
You have thrice earned the rest that you’ve got
And the cross your fingers carry to beyond...
Now, I really can’t believe that you’re gone.
There’s a wind blowing off the top of Divide
Through the valley of our old St. Mary
You have thrice earned the rest that you’ve got
And the cross your fingers carry to beyond...
Now, I really can’t believe that you’re gone.
No I really can’t believe
It’s so hard to imagine.
I really don’t believe that you’re gone.
-Jack Gladstone
7 comments:
Such a beautiful, powerful piece, Jenna. And thank you for adding the song.
May I link to this blog post from my Rising Bird fan page on Facebook? Or would you feel comfortable posting this image to the page yourself. Either way, I'd love for others to see your creation!
many blessings,
Courtney
How is adoption an atrocity against humanity? I don't get that.
Hi All My Monkeys:
The separation of mother and child, especially during infancy is unnatural and should be avoided at all costs. Child development has been studied and there is research to show that infants know their mother's smell, their voice, and that being in close contact with them is the best for BOTH the child and the mother.
The celebration of the unnatural celebration, and the complete disregard for the research is deplorable. We don't treat puppies/kittens like we do human infants, separating them at birth from their parents.
Similarly, adoption is a multi-million dollar business, that profits by separating children from their biological families. Adoption, especially in America is unethical at best, baby-brokering and child-trafficking at worst.
In adition to unnaturally separating mothers and children, and profitting off this separation, adoptees are repeatedly discriminated against during their lifetime. Currently there are only 6 states that allow adoptees access to their REAL birth certificate, the one that lists the actual people who gave birth to them, rather than a fictitious document that fulfills the adoptive parents' fantasy that they did actually give birth.
And this is just domestic adoption of a healthy white infant. Don't get me started on how we take advantage of poor third world countries in order to supply Americans with children. Children should be raised in their country of origin, not subjected to being raised by someone not genetically related to them, or someone who is from a completely different race. It is an atrocity against the Korean culture, the Chinese culture, the African American Culture, etc. for white parents to raise their children, because there is no way that a white person can teach a child how to be Korean.
These are some of the many examples of why adoption is an atrocity against humanity. And I especially take offense to Christians who try to find verses in the Bible to support their pro-adoption agenda. When we are instructed to take care of "orphans and widows," it doesn't mean take a child (who has parents living) and raise them as their own and erase their identity. Instead, it is a call to come alongside and support those in need, and to do what is best for them, which is to not strip them of their identity.
Now, I'm sure you will say "but there will still be children in orphanages or those who need homes." With that, I would say that there are many ways to help children. There is the ability to be a legal guardian. Children over a particular age could always consent to adoption. If adoption is to take place, it should be out of foster care, my motto is "providing homes for children who need them, not babies for people who want them." The system may never be fixed, but as it stands adoption is an atrocity agaisnt humanity.
Hi All My Monkeys:
The separation of mother and child, especially during infancy is unnatural and should be avoided at all costs. Child development has been studied and there is research to show that infants know their mother's smell, their voice, and that being in close contact with them is the best for BOTH the child and the mother.
The celebration of the unnatural celebration, and the complete disregard for the research is deplorable. We don't treat puppies/kittens like we do human infants, separating them at birth from their parents.
Similarly, adoption is a multi-million dollar business, that profits by separating children from their biological families. Adoption, especially in America is unethical at best, baby-brokering and child-trafficking at worst.
In adition to unnaturally separating mothers and children, and profitting off this separation, adoptees are repeatedly discriminated against during their lifetime. Currently there are only 6 states that allow adoptees access to their REAL birth certificate, the one that lists the actual people who gave birth to them, rather than a fictitious document that fulfills the adoptive parents' fantasy that they did actually give birth.
And this is just domestic adoption of a healthy white infant. Don't get me started on how we take advantage of poor third world countries in order to supply Americans with children. Children should be raised in their country of origin, not subjected to being raised by someone not genetically related to them, or someone who is from a completely different race. It is an atrocity against the Korean culture, the Chinese culture, the African American Culture, etc. for white parents to raise their children, because there is no way that a white person can teach a child how to be Korean.
These are some of the many examples of why adoption is an atrocity against humanity. And I especially take offense to Christians who try to find verses in the Bible to support their pro-adoption agenda. When we are instructed to take care of "orphans and widows," it doesn't mean take a child (who has parents living) and raise them as their own and erase their identity. Instead, it is a call to come alongside and support those in need, and to do what is best for them, which is to not strip them of their identity.
Now, I'm sure you will say "but there will still be children in orphanages or those who need homes." With that, I would say that there are many ways to help children. There is the ability to be a legal guardian. Children over a particular age could always consent to adoption. If adoption is to take place, it should be out of foster care, my motto is "providing homes for children who need them, not babies for people who want them." The system may never be fixed, but as it stands adoption is an atrocity agaisnt humanity.
it should read, the 'celebration of the separation'
Just curious, as for children who are left on the street abandoned and taken away from their bio parents for abuse and neglect...what is to become of them? Should we try to reunite them with their bio parents so they can end up dead?
As for the children, like my daughter, who spent 8 months of her life in an orphanage, your notion that I could some how be a guardian or that she should stay there until she can choose adoption or even more laughable that she can go to a foster home that DOES NOT EXIST in her country, you would suggest that she rot away and become permanantly delayed instead of living with us because we are somehow evil be cause we wanted a baby? Wow, you have major issues.
Dear Muriel & Jerry-
You mention children who are abused & neglected. In no way am I advocating child-abuse or neglect, I believe that these children should be provided loving and safe homes and if their biological parents cannot raise them safely then alternative measures must be taken. However, does alternative measures mean having their identities erased permanently? Does that mean being taken and raised by strangers? I think there are better alternatives, and, as a last resort, their can be stranger-adoption (though I would change the rules about original birth documents, and open adoptions).
As to children "rotting away" in foreign orphanages...I do recognize the problem with this, and do not wish suffering on children. However, the big business of adoption only perpetuates this problem. Children are abandoned not because their parents don't want to raise them, but rather because they are poor. Imagine what the money we use for adoption could go to help preserve families instead of ripping them apart? Adoption from foreign cultures is a form of colonization, and instead of helping that culture's children, it does them a great disservice. In addition, international adoption is fraught with deceit. Countless children are kidnapped and sold into orphanages in places like China, Guatamala, Mexico, Korea, etc. How can one be sure that the children "abandoned" in these orphanages were not kidnapped? I know a woman in her 30's who was kidnapped from India and adopted into Canada, and right now DNA tests are showing that many children adopted from Guatamala were in fact kidnapped first. This is a travesty. If a child were to be adopted, I see no reason why someone could not live in their child's home country, or at least in an area where the child grows up with the best possible access to their culture. It's not the ideal situation, but to really put the needs of our children first we must go outside of our comfort zone.
You say that legal guardianship or foster care was not an option in your case, and since I don't know you I will have to take your word for it. However, domestically adoptions could be run very differently. There is no need for someone to have their identity stolen and sealed without their consent.
Since you have already adopted the deed is done. However, your comment to me seems defensive and unnecessary. I am an adoptee and active in adoption rights here in American and work counseling adoptees. You might want to think about the issues more as your little one grows up. What if your child grows up to have a similar view as me? I know many adoptees who do, and this causes great distress to their Adoptive Parents because they were unprepared for an attitude of "ungratefulness."
Adoption is based on loss. Adoptees have another family, another culture, another identity, and it is important to raise them with this knowledge. Some books I recommend:
The Primal Wound
Journey of the Adopted Self
Lifelong Search for Self
Coming Home to Self: Search& Reunion
20 Things Adopted Kids wish Their Adoptive Parents Knew
etc.
My goal is to help change a system that is broken, and in order to change it is important for people to see the truth behind adoption practices both here and abroad. A good start would be to model our system after Australia's, which says that "no money shall change hands" in an adoption...helps keep things ethical in the grand scheme of things.
And for the rest of you reading this comment, especially "anonymous" from Rebekah's page: if I were unable to have kids, I certainly would not adopt and infant, not domestically or internationally. I would consider fostering children, however I would never strip them of their identity or their first family. And, I take offense to the idea that one HAS to adopt, it's always nice to know that adoption is a 2nd choice-bottom-of-the-barrel idea for you.
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