Modern Families

4 years ago, sitting in a park in my neighborhood I struck up a conversation with another mom, a virtual stranger who had 2 biological sons with her lesbian life partner.  Our small talk took an unexpected turn and suddenly we found ourselves clinging to each other’s stories like hurricane survivors in a life raft.  She had endured countless stares, unsolicited advice and an intrusive and heartbreaking exchange with a stranger in a diner in the very “PC” upper west side of Manhattan.  A woman stopped at her table, pointed at her and suggested she might be the “father” of her baby.  We laughed, even cried a little and that moment changed my life.  I realized that, as a single mother to an adopted child of another race, this woman and I shared a deep bond.  Different as we might be in other ways, we were both pioneers in a new, American family model.

This realization found creative form in a book proposal where I had intended to interview countless “non-traditional” parents – gay, single, trans-racial, adoptive.  In the midst of this journalistic frenzy something quite wonderful and miraculous happened.  A chance meeting with a friend on the street directed me and my newfound mission to a friend of hers, Catherine Wayland, who was actually putting together a magazine, International Family Magazine, for people like me.  I had no idea how that innocent interchange would enrich my life.  Catherine has become not only a cherished friend, but a creative lifeline who has allowed me to spin my pain into gold.  She has given Zoe and I a home in print and, for that, I will be eternally grateful.

"Agwera Margaret"
May 2008

"The New Global Family, Ours and Yours"
April 2008

"Zoe's Siblings - Thicker Than Blood"
March 2008

"On Love and War in Cyberspace"
사이버에서의 사랑과 전쟁
July 2007

"Priceless"
May 2007