this image holds more meaning than many of my images.

when i was two years old, i was adopted by the two best parents i could ever imagine. over the years i thought often of looking for my birth mother. (i knew my birth father had passed) sometimes i looked, others i was determined to look but afraid of what i might find. unfortunately, i never had enough information to find her.

when my adopted father passed, my adopted sister found my baby book and i was able to find my birth mother with this additional information. i found the courage to reach out to her after about nine months, and we briefly chatted. i was told i had a sister named harmony, (coincidentally also the name of the rehab facility i attended to regain control of my life) and harmony was instrumental in beginning a relationship with me as well as helping to introduce me to both my birth mother and a brother.

so what does this have to do with this image? this image was taken during a beautiful sunset at la push, wa, while visiting my sister harmony, my brother guy and my birth mother jan at her favorite beach. my mother jan told me early on, '“thank you for accepting me.” but all the while it was me that was thankful for the acceptance by the three of them. (and my brother from my birth father, Steve) as the clouds migrated from the horizon to just west of us, an opening for the sun to shine through appeared, and acceptance was on my mind as harmony, my birth mother and i watched the colors explode. and so it is, that we all, as a family, are accepted.