Pieces Of You

By J. Hickey

Who am I? Where did I come from? Where do I belong? These are daunting questions that almost every adoptee has asked themselves.

Take a look inside the world of adoption and reunification through Joanne’s eyes.

Where her journey began in 1968 on the tiny island of Newfoundland, Canada, but only for a short time. Suddenly, she was living a life in the United States.

Eventually, she made her way back to Newfoundland like waves that follow the sea.

Join her as she rides the roller coaster of searches and finds, reunions and rejections, and loves and losses.

It wouldn’t be until decades later that Joanne finally comes to terms with who she has become and how she found peace within her place in this world. Like a butterfly soaring from its cocoon, all these experiences gave her the wings she needed to fly.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Newman Springs Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: May 18, 2020
• ISBN: 9781645318712

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Pieces Of You

J. Hickey

Copyright © 2020 J. Hickey

All rights reserved

First Edition

NEWMAN SPRINGS PUBLISHING

320 Broad Street

Red Bank, NJ 07701

First originally published by Newman Springs Publishing 2020

ISBN 978-1-64531-870-5 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-64531-871-2 (Digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Joanne Lynn Conway

Kelliann Theresa Stanley

Kelliann Theresa Sheridan

Kelliann Theresa Lipton

Kelli Hickey

To Mom

Joanne Lynn Conway

It was a typical cold and rainy October morning on the small island of Newfoundland. The year was 1968 and there was an eerie silence that covered the small Canadian province that day. The gulls were squawking in the distance…and a faint sobbing coming from a woman who was traveling the longest 690 kilometers of her life. She had been driven out of town, away from everyone she knew, only to give away the deepest part of herself. She was trying desperately to cling on to what little optimistic thoughts she had left. Perhaps her precious child would grow up to live a life of stability and security, one which she could not provide. Still, she could not keep herself from weeping.

Once she arrived at the city of St. John’s, all decisions had been made for both of them from that point on. As she was being wheeled down the bright white corridor passing the maternity ward, she heard the sweet cries of the newborn babies who had just made their arrival into the world. Clutching her stomach, the life inside her, she trembled from fright and confusion. The only thing that kept her from completely falling apart was the fact she was convinced she was doing the right thing for this baby. She had a few minutes to collect her thoughts while trying to contain herself before delivery, but no matter how much she tried, it was almost impossible to gain a sense of reality that this was really, actually occurring. After so many agonizing months of trying to come up with another solution, this is what was best for both of them.

My mother, Theresa, was twenty-three, unwed, and giving birth to her second child. She had no idea at the time of my conception that she would have to give me away, but who often does? Her parents, who were also in the process of raising Theresa’s first child, my half-sister Tanya, who was only two years older than me, in addition to their own five children, were certainly not able to take in another child. They couldn’t do it. So her support system was depleted when it came to raising this second child.

My father, Ron, was also twenty-three and completely unaware of her pregnancy; therefore, my birth, basically my entire existence, was kept from him. He, too, grew up in Corner Brook, where they had met. But not too long after they had started dating, she unexpectedly left town. She had not left him with much choice, so he went on with his life; Theresa was only a distant memory. But we can touch base on that later.

Her doctor, compassionate as well as understanding of the situation at hand, tried to keep her spirits up by telling her the worst was almost over, and soon, both she and her child would lead happy and fulfilling lives. But the words happy and fulfilling would never be in her future, nor her child’s, for that matter. It was at this point, so close to the end, no