Tune-in Tuesday: Episode 122

Episode 122

Linda Pevac & Rev Dr Rob Martin

Some conversations don't just move you. They find you.  

On this episode of The Anna Jinja Show, host Anna Jinja sits down with Linda Pevac — known to readers by her author pen name, Emma Stevens — a domestic adoptee from the baby scoop era, and the author of three unflinching memoirs: The Gathering Place, A Fire Is Coming, and Choosing to Breathe.  

Linda describes growing up in a household where adoption was taboo — where speaking of it meant she was "bad," and performing who her parents wanted her to be meant she was "good." 

For decades, she was what she calls a dualistic thinker. Then, slowly, tenaciously, she pulled that apart.  Joining her is Rev. Dr. Rob Martin — pastor, poet, and regular voice at Athens's Words on Wednesday open mic — who was the featured artist selected to read Linda's memoir Choosing to Breathe and and write a poem inspired by her story. 

He called it "For Emma." He reads it aloud in this episode. And the moment Linda heard it — the nickname her father gave her woven into the verses — it brought tears to her eyes.  

One line Rob wrote says it all: "The universe wanted me. Life wants life." 

Those are Linda’s words. Rob gave them back to her in verse. And now they belong to all of us.  

This episode is for anyone who has ever felt like they were performing a version of themselves. Anyone who grew up not knowing they had permission to ask who they really were. Anyone sitting in the rubble of something broken, wondering if it can ever be beautiful again. 

Spoiler: it can. That's what kintsugi is all about.