A Gift to Myself

Macy Melendy

The validation from others that my story was a strange and difficult one was freeing. I had long felt it so very odd that a wealthy married couple with college and master’s degrees at the ages of 24 and 27 would give up a baby on their honeymoon trip around the world. Those in my immediate circle were not as fazed by these unusual facts. At the conference, I found people who truly understood that this knowledge sometimes made me feel worse about myself. They were in love and married and still didn’t want to keep me? That it made the emotional climb up an adoptee's hill to identity all the more challenging. The acceptance and sympathy of these strangers propelled me and filled me with an incredible energy.

Even though I was still searching and some of the reunion stories made me a tad bit jealous as well as awash with hope, I felt that at that conference I was part of something powerful. I realized that it might not be explainable to those not there, not experiencing this energy first-hand.

The four days in Atlanta went by faster than I could imagine. I was so sad the conference came to an end. I was afraid to leave the protective layer of support in which I had wrapped myself for these four days. I knew that I had to return to the conferences in the future. 

Since then, I consider the conference a birthday gift to myself. I leave every conference a bit more healed, a bit more conscious, and with a better understanding of myself. While I’m not defined by my adoption, it is a part of my truth and to find solace with others who understand and accept me, well, that is the true gift.

Macy Melendy is a workshop presenter at this year’s conference in Denver. Her workshop, Finding Your Path and Getting Back to Your Purpose will be on Thursday, April 26. She is also providing some comic relief and opening for comedienne Pekitta Tynes on Saturday night. Feel free to connect with her on Facebook and share your adoption story.