Reuniting with birth family can be a wonderful experience. Of course there are little things after reunion that can be tricky to navigate. For me, deciding what to call my birth mother was a bit of a hurdle. At first, our communication with each other was fairly formal. We corresponded by email, and I addressed her by her first name, Betty. When we transitioned to texts, an in-person meeting, and phone calls, I still called her Betty.
It seemed odd to me to call my birth mother by her first name in front of my full biological sisters, so when I was around them I referred to her as “your mom.” “Did your mom tell you what happened last week?” I would ask. Over the next few months, I changed it to “mom” around my sisters. “Mom is coming to visit next month,” I said. All the while, I was still calling her Betty directly.
One day, I started calling her “mom” to her face, and that was that. There wasn’t an event or anything that caused the change. I think I just started seeing things differently. It was an evolution of thought on the matter. I had always imagined this huge separation between my adoptive parents and birth parents, when in reality the gap is not that big. It honestly just feels like I have two moms.
No comments:
Post a Comment