Okay. This has been a long time coming.

April was a great month, starting off with turning 55 (born in ’55, so it seems like a special year somehow). Mid month, I headed out to Connecticut for the Kent Film Festival. I was blown away by the fact that Larry Newman, my sponsor, and Pam Hasegawa, one of the people who started this all, drove all the way up from New Jersey for the screening, as did Cindy Boynton Wolfe, who not only came but so did her son. Bravo! And equally exciting was that Dave Kiley, the star of the film, was able to see it with an audience for the first time. It’s different, watching it on a big screen with a lot of other people. He cried. Lots of people cried. And then the film won the “Sleeping Giant Award for Best Documentary”. And we all cried somemore. And laughed and drank wine. Kent was a lovely town with lovely people, especially my host, Marcia, and her many friends, who wined and dined me and got me completely hooked on electronic Scrabble. This is why we go to film festivals…

Following Kent was activity down at the state capitol in Rhode Island where legislation is pending regarding access to records. Paul Schibbelhute, of New Hampshire fame (he led the successful legislative effort there), invited me down to Providence for the day, and so we got ourselves on t.v. and in the newspaper, and tried to help ‘push the tree over’ in RI. Every state is different – and most states are struggling with budget issues. Rhode Island doesn’t look like its going to pass this year – but its not because folks aren’t trying hard…

On to MIT where one of the best conferences I’ve ever attended took place. Run by academics like Marianne Novy of Pitt, “Adoption: Secret Histories, Public Policies”. I had the distinct pleasure of meeting several of my idols face to face, from Susan Ito to Ann Fessler. “For the Life of Me” screened again – and Dave Kiley drove across the state to attend. It meant a great deal to have him see both the festival screening and the conference screening. For those who watch the film, having one of the main subjects in attendance allows them an opportunity to explore in more depth the issues his story raises. We all had a great time – and one learns so much from being able to hear the deep thoughts of those who’ve spent the majority of their lives pondering post adoption issues.

April rocked!