Jake O’Brien
LOYAL. KIND. PERSISTENT. I grew up in a small resort town on the beautiful shores of Lake Michigan, a community of about 8,000 year-round residents. I’m the youngest of seven […]
Amanda Prescott
EXPLORER. RESEARCHER. MENTOR. “Life is what happens while you’re busy making other plans.” I was in college and had an inkling that I was really different from the rest of
Dr. Nicole Price
RESILIENT. EMPATHETIC. CURIOUS. Do you know who the favorite is in your family? If you don’t, NEWSFLASH—it’s likely you. As the sixth of seven children, I always believed I was
Debbie Olson
COURAGEOUS. SUPPORTIVE. POSITIVE. I grew up always knowing my “dad” was not my biological father. I was 6 years old when my stepdad adopted me. I was raised to believe
Brittany Ashworth
EVOLVING. RESILIENT. HOPEFUL. I took an Ancestry DNA test, and my world was flipped upside down when I got my results July 26, 2021. Oddly enough, I finally decided to purchase
Monica Hall
Adopted during infancy, Monica’s childhood is marked by trauma and dysfunction. As a teenager, she dulls her pain with risky behavior and petty crime. In adulthood, she turns to drugs
Angie DeLuca
HEALING. GENERATIONAL. TRAUMA. :::Trigger Warning::: This true story contains incidents of abuse, rape, and incest.::: My maternal great grandfather was a Grand Imperial Wizard in the KKK. After he was
Susan Penwarden
RELENTLESS. CARING. PATIENT. Easter weekend, 1967 while my father’s great aunt we received a call to say that my maternal grandmother had died. I was the oldest of four, my
NORMA GOULD
GUARDED. EMPATHETIC. LOVING. How to do you put your life story into a page? You leave out a lot of the darkest parts of the journey and pray it makes
Dawn VanGorkum
COURAGEOUS. CARING. GRIEF STRICKEN. For nearly 43 years I lived a lie. I had no clue. My dad that raised me was also clueless. My mother claims she did not