The Forget Me Not Family Society is an organization dedicated to helping all of the members of the adoption triad (Adoptee, Birth Family, Adoptive Family) preserve family memories and retain openness in communication in all areas of adoption. They offer a Post Adoption Resource Center which provides consultation, support, counseling, and education for any who have been touched by adoption. This includes educational programs, workshops, and presentations.
Coming up October 24 and 25 this year is one such event. “A Girl Like Her” is the keynote address by Ann Fessler, an author, filmmaker, artist, and professor. Fessler has spent the last two decades exploring adoption by finding untold stories and helping the keepers of those stories to share them. Her focus is on those who have been adopted, or have placed for adoption, between the 1950s and the 1970s—a time when many babies were relinquished for adoption because of social pressure. Many during that time had their birth records sealed, thereby keeping a tight lid on stories that need to be shared. Fessler’s film, “A Girl Like Her,” includes interviews with over 100 birth mothers throughout the U.S.
In addition to an address by Ann Fessler, two workshops will be held. Memory writing and gathering information from oral histories will be the focus. No previous writing experience is necessary. Rather, those attending the workshops will be instructed in the necessary steps for writing one’s own memories. A second workshop will teach techniques for gathering oral memories from family members in a way that opens conversation rather than shutting it down.
Those interested in attending the event are invited to visit the Forget Me Not Family Society website at AdoptionCircles.net. Members of the organization will receive a discount for the event to be held in British Columbia in October 2015.
