We connected. I asked if we could meet (her son was visiting friends in Europe at the time) and she welcomed me into her home showing me pictures and sharing stories of his childhood. I was utterly thrilled, and we both had the same baby picture Social Services had given us. Then, one day after he’d returned, they came to the Preserve together and made wreaths in our holiday workshop. This was the first time I’d met him after his first three days of life. I was in awe and speechless the whole time. I didn’t know how to act and had to balance teaching with clandestine glances at my son. Thankfully, my sister had come and filled in my stunned silences with lighthearted chatter. Tim said I looked like a child who was seeing Santa for the first time. Since then, we’ve become friends and family. We don’t have a lifetime of history together, but we have many similarities and respect for each other’s kindness, intellect, and integrity. He has been an early advocate of electric vehicles (was the first known person to drive an electric car through all 50 states – yes, even Hawaii!) and is pursuing the increased use of electrically powered transport trucks. We discovered that we even have mutual friends in the area. Our paths might have crossed! I feel immense gratitude to and deep
affection for his adopted parents who sincerely, generously, and more than adequately provided a wholesome home life and opportunities in their community for my son and his adopted brother. How grateful I am to know him, to know his mother who feels like a sister to me, and to have had my own “adopted” stepchildren with my dear husband. By not letting a difficult and challenging situation hold or break me, by having kind support from others as well as forgiving myself and continuing my life with integrity, a tough situation has become a blessing for all concerned. (He has also met his biological father. His adopted father, unfortunately, died when he was a teenager.) How grateful I am that our society has matured to be more open and practical with young folks about reproduction so they can proceed with knowledge and carefulness. We know that mistakes will still happen, but their negative impact may be minimized with kind support and forgiveness. It’s so true that “It takes a village to raise a child” (African Proverb). Magazines such as this help to increase the connections and consciousness of our larger community so that the “village” becomes ever broader and more inclusive. We are so grateful that we have been
invited to participate in this; to share our vision of a kinder world, and what we went through to implement it through this wonderful, free magazine that focuses on real-life, personal stories, and news from our neighbors. Our lives once stretched before us on an endless path and too soon, much of that path is in the past. It’s a shock to realize that you’re old. I became sure of that when I overheard a visitor in a car in our turnaround saying; “This is where that old couple lives.” Changes are always upon us, and we intend to do our best to deal with advancing age with as much grace and acceptance as possible. We still have a responsibility to be good models and sources of experience and wisdom to youth and to society. I feel I’ve told my Tales for now, and with much gratitude, make room for the wonderful tales of others’ to be told. •
The Shawangunk Nature Preserve is a deep ecology, forever wild, 501©(3), learning and cultural center. Tim and Peggy still live there and can be contacted through their website.
www.shawangunknaturepreserve.com
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