Transracial Adoption

Posted by PatteeGorilla on Feb 1, 2012 in EQ-Emotional Intelligence, February/March 2012 | 0 comments

Raising a child in Frederick that doesn’t look like me.

I adopted for purely selfish reasons. It was very simple: I wanted to be a mom. I was single, and it seemed that adoption was the obvious path to achieving my goal. I realized to some degree then—but understand so much more now—that the essence of who I am is most fully expressed in my role as a mother. 

I was born and raised in Ireland, coming to the U.S. as a registered nurse at the age of 24. Living, as I did, in a homogenous society, which Ireland largely is, I thought that people of color were beautiful and exotic. I arrived aware of the impact of pre-Civil War slavery and its history, but was woefully ignorant of its continuing effects on U.S. society.

Everyone* Knew I was Gay [*But me]

Posted by Frederick Gorilla on Oct 4, 2011 in Archives, EQ-Emotional Intelligence, October/November 2011 | 0 comments

Coming out in Frederick after 20 years.

By Bradd Hammond
Illustrations by Matt Spire

As a teenager, I wished I were middle-aged. All of life’s major decisions would have already been made, and I would just coast through the rest of my life. Yeah, I was clearly very young, thinking that’s what middle-age looked like.

The Male Side of Divorce [Women don't have the market cornered on heartbreak.]

Posted by gorilla on Jul 29, 2011 in Archives, August/September 2011, Departments, EQ-Emotional Intelligence | 0 comments

By Elizabeth Ann Boucher

Divorce sucks. Period.

I have been through two divorces. So, for me, divorce sucks twice as much. I have spent many a night questioning my ability to maintain a relationship, wondering what is wrong with me or feeling inadequate and frustrated. Having said that I have to admit, until very recently, I always assumed that divorce affects woman differently than men. It always seemed that women were treated to an emotional roller coaster whereas men simply walked on to the next ride, unscathed and undaunted. I always assumed it was mostly men who left women, taking on younger, hotter girlfriends, while women were left writhing in pain—a pint of Ben and Jerry’s, and a Lifetime movie on the tube their only solace.