Like cowboys turning in the saddle to look at where they came from, Searching for the Castle documents the backtrail of author Barbara Leigh Ohrstrom's adoption. It begins with her urgency as an eighteen-year-old woman initiating her search for her birth parents. Her recollection includes court petitions, letters, Division of Social Service documents, and other original documents usually buried behind the lock and key of the law. In this memoir, she narrates the unearthing of her history and that of her family. Some of her discoveries are filled with pain, while others are joyful, including locating sisters, another brother, and eventually nieces and a nephew. A story of how one woman comes to terms with her identity, Searching for the Castle tells of real people doing the best they can to live and love in the often heartbreaking circumstances of life. As Ohrstrom shares her journey to find her birth parents, she reveals her emotions throughout the process, discovering that her identity is self-created, but also that her being is governed, in part, by her ancestors and family lines. Searching for the Castle communicates the message that love creates families and that the family to which Ohrstrom belonged in foster care gave her a mother, father, and family filled with love and decency.

Auszug. � Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

Searching for the CASTLE

Backtrail of an Adoption

By Barbara Leigh Ohrstrom

iUniverse LLC

Preface, xi, 
Foreword, xv, 
Chapter 1 Beginning the Search, 1, 
Chapter 2 Agony of Victory, 33, 
Chapter 3 Finding the Strength to Stand, 65, 
Chapter 4 Paperwork and Hearsay: My Mother's and Father's Stories, 87, 
Chapter 5 Back to the Beginning, 123,

CHAPTER 1

Beginning the Search

December 1978
24 West Twelfth Street
Odyssey House
New York, NY

It was dark and late, and I was awake. I stared at the light from thestreetlamp coming through the window and glimmering across thewooden, polished floor of the therapeutic community where I lived. Anhour passed and then another hour. I rose and walked through the largebuilding in the dark to my drafting desk, where I worked during the daydelivering packages, creating graphics, and running the old Gestetnerprinting press. I turned on a single overhead light and placed a sheet ofwhite paper in front of me.

If only, I thought, my memory would focus. The blank piece of paperbecame a fuzzy projection screen, like the kind in my earth science classin my high school, from which I had graduated eighteen months earlier.

I remembered getting adopted when I was five. My first time ridinga subway left me dizzy and elated as I had spun myself around on thesilver poles in the middle of the car. We entered a majestic building inBoston, and I cut my knee when I had fallen on an escalator. The judgehad seemed otherworldly as he sat atop a dais, encased in a woodenstand so only his black-robed chest and shoulders showed. He called meall the way up to his dais and asked me to spell my middle name forhim. In the car, on the way back to New Hampshire, I asked Marie, mynew adoptive mother, what being adopted meant. "It means I am yourmother," she said.

And then, confused, I asked, "Does everyone have more than onemommy?" She hadn't answered me, but Al, my new father, said noneof us—me, my sister, or my twin brother—should say the word adoptionever again.

I remembered Sue talked about our rocking chairs from when wewere little kids, but I didn't remember the chairs. My adoptive parentssaid they didn't know anything about rocking chairs. Once, I found Suewandering in the basement, and I asked what she was doing. Hopeless,she had answered, "Looking for our rocking chairs."

I remembered Sue also owned a book she liked a lot. Here mymemory wobbled, and I closed my eyes in an effort to see: a horse onthe cover. I tried to see what Sue was doing with the book, and thememory, sharp and sudden, came. Reading the book, she and I had saton the bed. Al had appeared, wanting to know where we got the book.Sue handed it to him, and he glanced at the inside cover, clenched hisjaw, and took the book away.

I snapped open my eyes—the inside cover. I closed my eyes again,straining to make the image of the inside cover appear, but could seenothing except letters that would not completely form. I could notremember most of my life up to age five; I had thought that was normaluntil some Odyssey House kids told me they remembered events fromwhen they were two. I lit a cigarette. Those letters might be important,and my twin brother, Bill, might know what they were. I could sleepnow and returned upstairs to my bedroom.

The next morning, I went to Sixth Street Odyssey House and foundmy twin, Bill. "Bill, I have to talk to you." I shepherded him inside anempty conference room, shut the door, and locked it. "Listen," I said."Last night, I remembered that book, the one Sue had when we gottaken away from the Powers. It had a picture of a horse on the front,remember?"

"Yeah, it was Mr. Ed, the Talking Horse."

"Remember Dad got mad and took the book away from her?"

Bill looked at me like I'd lost my mind.

"Dad took it away for a reason, right? He looked at the inside cover,saw something in there, and it made him mad." I paused. "I think itwas a name."

"So what was so special about a name?"

"Bill, what was the name? Do you remember the name?"

"Yeah, course I do. Orstom, or something like that."

"That's it, Bill, that's it."

"What's it?"

"That's our name!"

"No, that's our foster mother's name."

"No, Bill, listen. Mom wrote that sentimental letter to ConfidentialChat (similar to Dear Abby), right? And our foster mother figuredout she was writing about us and wrote to Confidential Chat and hadConfidential Chat contact Mom. Our foster parents' last name was Power,not Orstom or whatever it is."

"My God," he said.

"That's what I'm telling you, Bill. You remembered our real lastname."

"My God," he repeated.

I left him and tramped back to Twelfth Street Odyssey House, whereI lived. Who had written the name inside the book? Could it be mymother's actual handwriting? Did the book still exist?

The next day, I wrote a letter to my adoptive mother and pleadedwith her to break into my adoptive father's filing cabinet and get theadoption records. I told her that although I knew my adoptive fatherwouldn't want her to help me, I had to have this information. As Ilicked the envelope, I prayed she would understand why I needed theinformation; I prayed she would help me.

Meanwhile, Bill persuaded a Massachusetts phone operator to lookthrough every listing in Massachusetts and got the address and telephonenumber of the Powers, our foster parents. I was too afraid to call thePowers after all these years, so I wrote another letter, this time to myfoster mother.

I waited. December slid into January. I incessantly bugged Jack, theguy who manned the front reception desk of Odyssey House. "Is themail here yet? Any mail for me today?"

"Relax!" he growled. "I'll tell ya, ya got any mail!" One day hehanded me a slim manila envelope. "Hope that's what you want,"he said.

I didn't answer him. The package was from my adoptive mother. Iripped it open with shaking hands.

The first page was a letter from Ms. Frost, a social worker Iremembered who had worn Coke-bottle glasses. The letter congratulatedAl and Marie and confirmed the court date for the adoption. I scannedit impatiently and put it down. The second page was a letter from theDepartment of Welfare, stating that Al and Marie's home had beenaccepted "for the placement of an adopted child or children." The thirdpage, a form, stated that according to the Division of Child Guardianship,I had, indeed, been born. Ms. Frost signed it on July 29, 1965, eight daysbefore my fifth birthday.

The fourth page, another letter from Ms. Frost dated July 9, 1965, wasrather chatty, discussing our vaccinations, the status of our education(none), and pictures taken of us with Santa Claus when we lived with ourfoster parents. She said we were of "Portuguese and English ancestry."

I slowly turned over the last page and stared. It was the first time Ihad seen my fake birth certificate. It named me Barbara Malfide, bornAugust 6, 1960. It called Marie my birth mother and Al my birth father.It claimed I was Portuguese and English. Aside from my date of birth,it stated one true fact: I am a twin.

Dated July 22, 1966, nearly six years after I was born, the oathon the bottom read: "I, Tony Bachieri, depose and say that I hold theoffice of Town Clerk of the Town of Wareham, County Plymouth andCommonwealth of Massachusetts; that the records of Births, Marriagesand Deaths...

��ber diesen Titel� kann sich auf eine andere Ausgabe dieses Titels beziehen.

Anbieterinformationen

Hello! Ria Christie Collections is an online venture that was initially set up in 2012 to sell books. We do not have a physical high street store. We are professional online booksellers. We only sell brand new books in perfect condition that we source from various suppliers and the publishers. Primarily, our aim is to provide an excellent service to all our customers. We always work as a team to achieve this. Our other objectives are to: 1. Ensure that all our products reach their destination quickly in a safe and secure manner 2. Answer to all our customer queries within 24 hours 3. Ensure that our customers are happy with their purchases 4. Provide all the items at a competitive price 5. Always listen to our customers Ria Christie Collections is not a registered company. It is a Sole Trader venture. Other key information is shown below: Contact Person Name: Rakesh Luchmun (Mr) Storefront Name: Ria Christie Collections Place of Establishment Address: Suite B; ARUN House; ARUN Building Arundel Road Uxbridge UB8 2RR United Kingdom E-Mail Address: riachristie@hotmail.co.uk VAT Number: GB 160 5650 25 We always work hard and aim to comply with all of Abebooks Policies. If you have any issues, please do not hesitate to write to us whether before or after a purchase. We promise to reply to you promptly and, in any case, within 24 hours. Thank you kindly! Yours sincerely Mr Rakesh Luchmun (Founder) and the Ria Christie Collections Team

Zur Homepage des Verk�ufers

Unternehmensdaten des Verk�ufers

Ryefield Investments Limited
175 Pield Heath Road, Uxbridge, UB8 3NL, United Kingdom

Gesch�ftsbedingungen und Versandinformationen

Verkaufsbedingungen

All Returns and Refund are as per Abebooks policies.

Widerrufsrecht

Wenn Sie Verbraucher sind, k�nnen Sie gem�� den folgenden Bestimmungen vom Vertrag zur�cktreten. Verbraucher ist jede nat�rliche Person, die zu Zwecken handelt, die nicht ihrer kaufm�nnischen, gewerblichen, k�nstlerischen oder beruflichen T�tigkeit zugerechnet werden k�nnen.

Informationen zum Widerrufsrecht

Gesetzliches Widerrufsrecht

Sie haben das Recht, den Vertrag innerhalb von 14 Tagen ohne Angabe von Gr�nden zu widerrufen.

Die Widerrufsfrist betr�gt 14 Tage ab dem Tag, an dem Sie oder ein von Ihnen benannter Dritter, der nicht der Transporteur ist, die letzte Ware oder den letzten Posten oder das letzte Exemplar in Besitz genommen hat.

Um das Widerrufsrecht auszu�ben, f�llen Sie auf unserer Website unter „Meine Eink�ufe" in „Mein Nutzerkonto" eine eindeutige Erkl�rung elektronisch aus und senden Sie sie ab. Wir werden Ihnen unverz�glich eine Best�tigung �ber den Eingang eines solchen Widerrufs auf einem dauerhaften Datentr�ger (z. B. per E-Mail) �bermitteln.

Um die Widerrufsfrist einzuhalten, reicht es aus, dass Sie Ihre Mitteilung �ber die Aus�bung des Widerrufsrechts vor Ablauf der Widerrufsfrist absenden.

Auswirkungen des Widerrufs

Wenn Sie diesen Vertrag widerrufen, erstatten wir Ihnen alle Zahlungen, die wir von Ihnen erhalten haben, einschlie�lich der Lieferkosten (mit Ausnahme der zus�tzlichen Kosten, die entstehen, wenn Sie eine andere Art der Lieferung als die von uns angebotene g�nstigste Standardlieferung gew�hlt haben).

Wir k�nnen einen Abzug von der R�ckerstattung f�r den Wertverlust der gelieferten Waren vornehmen, wenn der Verlust auf eine unn�tige Behandlung durch Sie zur�ckzuf�hren ist.

Wir werden die R�ckerstattung unverz�glich und nicht sp�ter als 14 Tage nach dem Tag vornehmen, an dem wir �ber Ihre Entscheidung, diesen Vertrag zu widerrufen, informiert wurden.

F�r die R�ckerstattung verwenden wir dasselbe Zahlungsmittel, das Sie f�r die urspr�ngliche Transaktion verwendet haben, es sei denn, Sie haben ausdr�cklich etwas anderes vereinbart; in keinem Fall werden Ihnen aufgrund einer solchen R�ckerstattung Geb�hren berechnet.

Wir k�nnen die R�ckzahlung verweigern, bis wir die Waren wieder zur�ckerhalten haben oder Sie den Nachweis erbracht haben, dass Sie die Waren zur�ckgesandt haben, je nachdem, was eher eintritt.

Sie m�ssen die Waren unverz�glich und in jedem Fall sp�testens 14 Tage ab dem Tag, an dem Sie uns �ber den Widerruf dieses Vertrags unterrichten, an Ria Christie Collections, Uxbridge, United Kingdom, zur�cksenden oder �bergeben. Die Frist ist eingehalten, wenn Sie die Ware vor Ablauf der Frist von 14 Tagen zur�cksenden. Sie m�ssen die direkten Kosten der R�cksendung der Waren tragen. Sie haften nur f�r einen etwaigen Wertverlust der Waren, der auf eine Behandlung zur�ckzuf�hren ist, die nicht zur Pr�fung der Art, Eigenschaften und Funktionsweise der Waren erforderlich ist.

Ausnahmen vom Widerrufsrecht

Das Widerrufsrecht gilt nicht f�r:

Die Lieferung von Zeitungen, Zeitschriften oder Magazinen mit Ausnahme von Abonnementvertr�gen; und
Die Lieferung digitaler Inhalte, die nicht auf einem physischen Medium (z. B. auf einer CD oder DVD) geliefert werden, wenn Sie bei Ihrer Bestellung akzeptiert haben, dass wir mit der Lieferung beginnen k�nnen und dass Sie nach Beginn der Lieferung den Vertrag nicht mehr widerrufen k�nnen.

Versandbedingungen

Orders usually ship within 2 business days. If your book order is heavy or oversized, we may contact you to let you know extra shipping is required. Thank you!

Versandkosten von Vereinigtes K�nigreich nach USA

Versandkosten von Vereinigtes K�nigreich nach USA
Bestellmenge	6 bis 12�Werktage	6 bis 12�Werktage
Erster Artikel	EUR 13.89	EUR 13.89

Die Versandzeiten werden von den Verk�uferinnen und Verk�ufern festgelegt. Sie variieren je nach Versanddienstleister und Standort. Sendungen, die den Zoll passieren, k�nnen Verz�gerungen unterliegen. Eventuell anfallende Abgaben oder Geb�hren sind von der K�uferin bzw. dem K�ufer zu tragen. Die Verk�uferin bzw. der Verk�ufer kann Sie bez�glich zus�tzlicher Versandkosten kontaktieren, um einen m�glichen Anstieg der Versandkosten f�r Ihre Artikel auszugleichen.