This is my first opportunity at interviewing an adoptee, someone who was adopted, for my podcast SHLTMM. I really want to thank Lisa Valdez Barnett for sharing her story about 'her mom'-her adopted mother, Rosemarie Valdez, whom she loved very much.
While Lisa was growing up, she and her family travelled quite a bit, usually related to her father's work in New York, Texas, California and London.
One of Lisa's fondest memories of her mother was sitting down together and having tea and talking about anything and everything including boys. "You have to look at the way a guy behaves and not just what he says" her mom would say.
Lisa always felt that her mother was completely devoted to raising her and her adopted brother Peter. "She was always very available," recalls Lisa.
Her parents were very different and she understood how her mom would say "opposites attract." Yet Lisa's mom was a very strong woman who guided her husband and they made important work/family related decisions together.
Lisa established a relationship with her birth mother when she was 27 years old and has a budding relationship with her step sister.
However, seeing that this podcast is about the relationship between my guest and the story of their mother, Lisa was very specific about telling the story of 'her mother,' the woman who loved her and raised her. Rosemarie passed away in 2000 and Lisa misses her dearly.