Tune-in Tuesday: Episode 98
Episode 98
Sharon Boyle
Navigate the complex emotions of adoptive parenting with "Navigating Rejection Together." This guide, inspired by this Anna Jinja Show podcast episode with Liz and Gabriella, helps you understand that feelings of rejection and isolation are common for both you and your child. Discover practical steps to bridge the distance, transform fear into connection, and build trust with your child.
Sharon Boyle & Reunion Day Poem
Sometimes the most profound stories are told in the simplest words. In this episode, Dr. Sharon Boyle shares not just her adoption journey, but the raw, beautiful poem she wrote one week after meeting her birth mother for the first time.
"Reunion Day" begins: "I watched her like a silent movie and picture photograph, trying to memorize the way she spoke and the throaty way she laughs." Those words, written by a 25-year-old Sharon just days after a life-changing meeting, capture something universal about the human need for connection and recognition.
Meet Dr. Sharon Boyle: Sharon is Ohio University's Associate Professor of Music Therapy and Director of Arts and Health - credentials that reflect a career built on understanding how creativity heals. But her professional expertise grew directly from personal experience: using writing and music as a teenager to process the loneliness and disconnection she felt as an adoptee.
A Journey That Keeps Expanding: What began with finding her birth mother in 1996 has continued to unfold for 30 years: A 30-year relationship with her birth mother A half-brother discovered five years later (now a 24-year relationship) Her birth father, whom she met just last year A half-sister discovered recently, expanding her sibling count from two to four
The Moment That Changes Everything: Sharon describes seeing a recent photo of herself with biological cousins: "I look like all of these people, and I've never seen that before." At 54, she was experiencing for the first time what most of us take for granted - seeing family resemblance, understanding where physical traits come from, feeling the ancient pull of biological recognition.
Why This Episode Matters: In a world where many people feel disconnected from community and uncertain about belonging, Sharon's story offers hope. It reminds us that the search for identity and connection is lifelong, that families can be found at any age, and that the creative expression of our experiences can become gifts we offer others. As Sharon puts it: "Creative outlets are really important for adoptees... it helped me find value in what my experience was."
Listen now to hear Sharon read "Reunion Day" in her own voice and share insights from three decades of building relationships across multiple families - adoptive and biological. Her story will change how you think about identity, belonging, and the ongoing work of becoming who we're meant to be.
Reunion Day
I watched her like a silent movie
and picture photograph
Trying to memorize the way she spoke
and the throaty way she laughs
I saw tears hover in her heavy brown eyes
and my heart wept silently in her honor.
I wanted to tell her it was all right
that we both turned out okay.
It seems we both tried to capture
25 years in a single, solitary day.
I showered her with my childhood
through dusty photo memories I'd kept-
I stared when she wasn't looking and tried desperately
to memorize her beautiful face
I noticed her hands looked like mine, well
maybe just a trace.
I met my mother today,
the one who gave me life-
The one who gave me sadly away
She felt she had no choice.
-Sharon Boyle
June 27, 1996, one week after reunion day