On Thriving
The phone rings. I sit anxiously awaiting an answer with sweaty, shaky hands. I am both relieved and disappointed when the call goes to voicemail. Abruptly losing my nerve, I hang up without leaving any message. My mind and my stomach wrestle with a mix of shame, relief, anxiety, and disappointment. Almost immediately my phone rings. Answering, the person on the phone says, “Hello?” I hesitate for what feels like hours. The caller says again, “Hello?!
“I Now Feel Complete”
Anna was adopted when she was six weeks old by a secular Jewish couple in England. Anna’s adoption papers showed she was born at South London Hospital for Women and Children, which opened in the early 1900s. Eventually, the hospital would expand to include a maternity ward. Anna is unsure if she was born in the hospital or the maternity center. The hospital has now closed, but the building remains.