When I first started talking to people about adoption a little more than three decades ago, I wished I knew more about it. (I've been a huge fan of Dr. Joyce Maguire Pavao's comment, "If you know one adoption, you know one adoption.") I set out to learn as much as I could, and of course I'm still learning... because each adoption experience is unique, and each individual's reaction to the same set of circumstances is different... so of course, I can learn a lot, but I'll never know as much as I would like.

One of the things I like so much about these blogs is that our bloggers bring us their stories, the issues, and knowledge gathered from their "one" experiences and mix them up with other points of view and resources. Those who take the time to comment, whether contributing experience, agreement, or disagreement, add to the whole and the end result is becoming something quite unique... a respository of information that is both broad and specific (a paradox, certainly) that will hopefully touch the reader who comes not so much to comment as to learn, or find a solution or an answer or simply a voice that resonates deep within.

I have broken many promises to myself over these last three decades. I promised myself I would never have those little broken veins in my feet that my grandmother had. I promised myself I would never have batwings under my upper arms that move of their own volition. But the one promise I have kept to myself is that I would keep learning about adoption into my "feisty old broad" years. And I thank my blogger colleagues and those who come to comment for the wide range of insight they offer that allows me to do that here.

If you, the reader, have come to follow one blog with a title that directly relates to your adoption connection, I encourage you to read several more - even though they may seem unrelated to your experience. There's gold to be found.