Children's Bridge weekend

Children’s Bridge was in town this weekend for an information session and seminars for Children’s Bridge members.

Friday night, we had a smaller-than-expected turnout for the Information Session. The weather was stormy and all the out-of-town people decided to pass. It was quite stormy when we left, so it was probably a smart move on their part. There is another session in Fredericton soon, so I suspect that they’ll head there.

Saturday involved some sessions which we have attended twice before so we skipped those. We did meet up with the CB people for supper.

On Sunday, CB invited an adult Vietnamese adoptee to speak to us about growing up in Cape Breton. She was one of the babies in the famed Baby Lifts of the early 70’s. For anyone who has adopted, you are missing a lot by missing these talks. There were close to 40 people in attendance which is more than they expected. This is the 3^rd speaker I have heard tell their story and I was looking forward to this one because of where she grew up. The others were from bigger cities not in the Maritimes so for me, those felt somewhat disconnected from our lifestyle here.

“Heather” spent many years in Cape Breton before her family moved to the Annapolis Valley. She had just started to feel like she fit in in Cape Breton when they moved, so as a teenager, she suffered from depression because of her peers and her lack of identity. She told us about finding 2 birth certificates for her, both with different birth dates on them. She talked about the sadness of nobody knowing where she was found or how she was brought to the orphanage. She talked about wanting to be called by her Vietnamese name as a child, as this was one of the only pieces of Vietnam that she had. She was a ministers daughter and felt all the eyes on her when her family sat in the front of the church on Sundays. She returned to Vietnam as an adult to visit her orphanage and to understand her homeland better. This was very therapeutic for her and helped her better understand the conditions involving her adoption.

Her talk was very interesting. For me, there were no real surprises in how she described life in the Maritimes. I understand that we will be bringing a minority to Eastern Canada and this will add to the challenge of raising our child. I do not know what the future will bring, but by taking part in sessions like this, I hope to be better prepared and get a better understanding of what it’s like to be a minority.