UM’s Most Popular Post So Far

I thought it be interesting to see, since I hadn’t written for a while, which of my archived posts was getting the most on-going traffic since Unsigned Masterpiece began in July of 2008.

It is “Sorry for Any Inconvenience” posted October 20, 2008. Here it is:

Sorry for Any Inconveninece….

In my opinion, “Sorry for any inconvenience.” has to be one of the most insincere phrases in the English language, tossed off usually in a manner that leads you to believe the person, corporation, telephone company, cable provider or government service is anything but sorry.

In that vein here is an announcement from the government of my home province. For some reason, it makes me think about the CAS – that’s Children’s Aid Society – and asking them how they feel about issuing a few apologies.

Attorney General Chris Bentley says a proposed apology act for the province would help make the justice system more affordable and punctual.

The provincial government last week rolled out proposed legislation that would remove the risk of civil court liability for individuals and organizations that issue apologies.

The government said the new law would help victims’ recovery, improve accountability and transparency in the health-care sector, and aid the justice system by “fostering the resolution of civil disputes and shortening or avoiding litigation.”

Bentley said, “The goal of the legislation is to encourage sincere apologies — saying sorry for a mistake or wrongdoing is the right thing to do.”

So maybe I should call the CAS. Let’s see what would I ask them to apologize for. Maybe the fact that they knew at the time I had my son that there were no Catholic homes looking to adopt a child. Maybe for not telling me that they had a policy that said he could not be adopted by a family of another faith. And for not telling me that my son, therefore, would go straight to foster care. And that he sat for almost 10 months until finally a family showed up. Not the perfect family, just the first one.

Yes that might be a good place to start. They should apologize don’t you think.

After all, it’s not going to cost them anything.

Peace

UM

Watch This Space

UM returns March 15th

This little light of mine…

Well I have had time to think in my little hiatus. The year ended with the death of another friend who was only 51 years old. She had been struggling valiantly over the past eight years against breast cancer but lost the fight mid-December. The end of the year is also the time of my son’s birthday. I sent him a present and good wishes from all of us here but we have heard nothing. I can only hope some deserving homeless person got the benefit of the gift we sent.

But onwards and upwards…

This is one of the things I wanted to write about but never quite made it.

The death of Odetta in December.

Odetta played a role in my life, although she didn’t know it. A few years ago, maybe seven or eight, I was in a small city. There wasn’t too much going on but I noticed there was a music festival and that Odetta was appearing at it. Her name was familiar and I knew she was a big deal in the sixties, she sang at the march on Washington etc. so off I went to see her. She put on a good show, singing and sharing stories from her life.

For her last encore she sang what I guess was a big hit for her back then, This Little Light of Mine. I didn’t remember her singing it particularly over the years, more memories of singing it around campfires. But when she started to sing and invited us all to join in, the tears started falling because I knew I was not letting my light shine.

Those of you who are birth mothers out there know we are pretty good at putting a clamp on our emotions. It is the only way some of us have survived. But I recognized for the first time listening to that song that I must make some changes in my life. I was in a job I didn’t like very much, not because of the work, but because of the boss. I was hanging in hoping things would get better. But after listening to Odetta I acted. I got out of that job, I took a creative writing course, I won a prize, I had a play produced, etc.

I feel I owe some of it to Odetta.

I heard she was not well but was trying to last until Obama’s inauguration. Unfortunately she didn’t make it but I’m sure she will be there in spirit.

Peace

UM

Just fyi – Hess Saxton hits

The post that I wrote – This Is What We’re Up Against My Friends…” has very rapidly become the third most read post on this blog. Just behind “About Unsigned Masterpiece” and very close to “FAQ’s”.

I have no idea what this means. I hope it means some people are reading my post and others and perhaps allowing their minds to open a bit about adopted people and the persons who gave birth to them.

I fear I am being overly optimistic about that but I hope I am wrong.

Peace

UM

Glacial Acres

Someone posted a list of 10 nominees for the Demons of Adoption Award 2008.

I didn’t quite understand all of them which is not to say I dispute the nominations, I just don’t know enough about them to put them forward.

However, here is my vote for Number One.

If there was an award for pro-adoption propaganda, I would nominate them for that too or how about the perpetuating the myths about adoption award or the … well you get the idea.

My Number One Nominee from their list:

The makers of Juno for helping to groom and brainwash a whole new generation of girls and young women to be walking incubators for the the adoption industry;

One of the things I always thought was odd about Juno was the name of the subdivision where the PAP’s lived. It was Glacial Acres or something like that. An out of character name given the rest of the film.

Peace

UM