Age 10

I have been wanting to do this for awhile and then got distracted, then I put it off because I wanted to explain why I wanted to do it, then found myself incapable of formulating thoughts, and now I have the book in my lap, so I am just going to share it with you.

[Phew] The following is a poem written by young Julia talking about life as an adopted person and how she thinks about it. Also, I want to add that the author, Joyce Maquire Pavao, introduces this poem by commenting that here is a poem from a 10 year old "whose parents have done an admirable job of helping her know what adoption means and who've given her the tools to talk about adoption."

I give you -

Me

Before I was born
God had a plan
For me and my surroundings.
He gave me two mothers
And sent me two fathers,
And sighed, "Oh me, oh my.
This baby, this child.
What shall I do?"
And he wrote down,
Three sisters, two brothers.

He wrote down,
Girl, not boy,
Asian, nothing else
And He added a few lies.
But then he made me
A Good Child.
And gave me love, talent and peace.

Before I was born,
God had a plan for
My two mothers and two fathers.
He gave them mistakes,
He wrote down joy.
And sent them the gift of talent.

God wrote down sadness,
Loss and fear.
He gave me an empty hole.
Inside that hole,
Little by little
Happiness begins to form
A star.
And in that star,
He gave me hope,
That I must use always.

Across the sea,
My first mother dwells.
Here at home,
My mother lives.
God made it that way

I believe.
He wrote down
Sad and scared.
But then he gave the star,
Of hope and
An unfinished book, laid
Aside.

-Julia Wisbach, age 10
Birthcountry Korea