Overview

Reggie Jarrell was adopted as a newborn by a childless couple who were part of his extended family. They agreed to let his teenaged birth mother be part of his life. But no one would speak of his birth father. Jarrell grew up in a loving home with parents who encouraged and supported him. His birth mother came in and out of his life. Despite knowing he was cherished, in his teens he longed to know who his birth father was. That longing resulted in decades of starting and stopping a search for the mysterious man whose genes he carried. It culminated when, in his fifties, Jarrell met Myron. What he uncovered about the secret man who had haunted him was shocking. As he learned more, his view of his birth mother was also altered. Jarrell tells this story with candor. He lets readers know of his ambivalence that stopped him from responding once he located his birth father. He shows readers the charismatic Myron, a teenager who got in trouble and the radiant Wanda who gave him life when she was fouirteen. Readers meet his adoptive parents who taught their beloved son to value books, hard work, and learning. Jarrell's story traces his own restlessness through an assortment of careers and the accumulation of multiple advanced degrees. We see him puzzling over what traits he may have inherited from Myron and why his family kept Myron a secret from him for so long was. This is a moving story of loss and recovery, of love in its various forms. It is an important read for people whose lives intersect it from any of the viewpoints: birth parents, adoptive parents, adoptees, those considering adoption, social workers, church groups. It is appropriate for families with middle school or older children to read together and for use in schools. Now, when most children experience multiple parent figures and many are estranged from family members, Jarrell's story shows that one can love and be enriched by multiple parent figures. And that love comes in various forms and can survive despite everything. Photos of his family enhance the text.

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9781958728161

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Insightful account of adoption trauma and the value of locatng biological parents in mid life. A moving account of teenaged love and pregnancy that had a good outcome!

Author Information

Reginald D. Jarrell has taught at Southwestern College, Winfield, Kansas; St. Ambrose University, Davenport, Iowa; Southern University in New Orleans, Louisiana; Alcorn State University, Lorman, Mississippi; and at two community colleges in Iowa and Illinois. His legal experience includes work as assistant public defender, Rock Island County, Illinois, and staff attorney, Prairie State Legal Services, Rock Island. His communications experience includes working as television production staff, Family Radio, Oakland, California; as a newspaper staff reporter for The Moline Publishing Company, Moline, Illinois; and as a television news reporter, WHO- TV, Des Moines, Iowa. He has also worked as a janitor and a shoe salesperson.He earned a Juris Doctor degree, University of Iowa College of Law, Iowa City, Iowa; a Master of Divinity, American Baptist Seminary of the West, Berkeley, California; a Master of Science, Mass Communication and Journalism, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa; a Bachelor of Arts in Communication, The American University, Washington, D.C.; and a Doctor of Ministry degree from The Berkeley School of Theology, formerly American Baptist Seminary of the West.Jarrell's writing includes essays, 31 Days (Nights): Memoir of Living Black in America (Blue Cedar Press, 2022), Wings (a children's book), and television/film screenplays. He enjoys reading, film, theater, travel, and current events.Jarrell's family consists of wife Canetha, two sons, one daughter, six grandchildren, and one small dog. Jarrell has lived in several places across the United States and currently resides in south central Kansas. Laura Tillem has been managing editor for Blue Cedar Press since 2014. She is an IT specialist whose passion is reading and watching films. Moving to Wichita from Boston, she devotes much of her time to editing, working with her co-editor for prose submissions. Eick is a professional historian and a writer who co-edits prose books for Blue Cedar Press. She regularly travels outside the US and as lived in several countries.

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