I always wanted to find a way to express to my children the reasons that lead me to place them with other families, to not raise them myself. It is not an easy task to do, but the open adoptions that I had helped me heal and accept life as a mother without her children. I had the idea for the book in my head for over 15 years, but just could not find the right way to tell the story until almost 20 years later.
I often would look at book stores periodically to see if there were any children's books that explained adoption in a real way ... not the "you were a gift from heaven" or "we wished for you" book. I wanted to see something that kids could read and really think about, talk to their parents about, show them that they WERE wanted. Sometimes we take kids for granted and do not take their feelings into consideration when it comes to explaining adoption to them. The last thing a child wants is a phony story or a fairytale, I think they would prefer the truth.
The Best For You was written in two weeks and the illustrations took almost two years to complete. I do not consider myself an artist, but it is amazing what you can do when you set your mind to it! So once I finished the illustrations I tried to find a publisher for this unique perspective, but like life...many were afraid to touch this taboo subject. I finally decided to take my fate into my own hands and researched self publishing. I chose a publisher, sent the files and The Best For You is the result.
The book is available several places, but these are the most popular:
AuthorHouse.com for $9.99 + shipping.
Amazon.com for varied prices.
Barnes&Noble.com for $11.50
TapestryBooks.com is an online bookstore specializing in only adoption topics. Fantastic resource for anyone looking for literature about all sides of the triad (birth mothers, adoptees and adoptive parents).