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maryannaking

@maryannaking

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writer * reader * eater * adoptee
www.maryannaking.com

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My adoptive mother believed instant mashed potatoes were a gift to humanity. I believed they were a betrayal of my ancestors.

We fought about this — quietly, for years — every holiday, every dinner, every box of Potato Buds she kept stocked in the pantry like a small act of defiance.

Then last week, exhausted and out of time, I reached for the same shortcut she always did.

New essay on Adapting — about food, adoption, and the things we inherit whether we want to or not — is up now. Link in bio. 🥔

#adopteevoices #adopteewriting #cooking #family #essay by @maryannaking

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a month ago

The paperback of my memoir Bastards was released ten years ago this month.

Since its publication, I have moved across the country, grown a full head of silver hair, met more adopted people than I ever could have imagined, fought for open records for adoptees, and become a parent.

Re-reading this today, I see my own child reflected in the way my brother and I behaved. I see new wrinkles and challenges in my parents, both first and adoptive. And I see that, while so much has changed in our culture — smartphones, political polarization, pandemics, photographic surveillance absolutely everywhere — so much still has not. There are still families forced to do this arithmetic of how many meals are in the fridge and how many hands they have to hold, to determine whether they deserve to keep their children, whether they deserve to be a family. If anything, as inequality has grown, that calculus has only become more punishing.
As my own family dives into these longer and sunnier spring days, my wish for all families is this:

Enough.

#adopteevoices #writinglife by @maryannaking

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4 months ago

It was a beautiful sunrise this morning. The first day I have known without you in this world. Rest in peace, dad. Give Mmimmi a squeeze for me. by @maryannaking

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2 years ago

Cheers to the #offvinerestaurant family. We wish we could be in Hollywood with you today to be part of the last service. To Richard, Tony, Brenda, Tom, Raul, Casto, Lazaro, Ariel, and everyone who stayed for the finale. May this be a glorious end, and the start of something new and beautiful. by @maryannaking

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4 years ago

You know your restaurant skills have not left you when you start date-labeling breast milk. #FirstInFirstOut y'all.... You also know you have the greatest neighbors when you arrive home from the hospital to a surprise welcome for the baby.

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Our little guy arrived 3 weeks early after an unexpected complication with my liver. After 8 days in the hospital, an emergency induction, followed by an emergency caesarean delivery (due to a cord wrapped tightly around his neck), our baby was born at 7 lbs, 14 ounces, greeting the world with a pterodactyl cry.

You won't see any pictures of him on my social media feeds, however. Which is hard for me, because he is completely delightful and amazing in every way, and I wish you all could see the red baby socks he is rocking today. But we want him to have the option of an internet and social media free existence if that is what he chooses.

He already has a great nickname from the neighbors-- Li'l Smo-King-- which we are wholeheartedly embracing.

Thank you so much for all the warm wishes, positive thoughts, and spellcasting (5 sisters makes a coven, right?). We all felt your support throughout our labor and delivery adventure. And now we are off on a new one! by @maryannaking

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4 years ago

Bump update... #30Weeks by @maryannaking

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4 years ago

Am excited to discuss BASTARDS with a group of amazing adoptees this Saturday for the Adoptees On book club! The conversation is open to Adoptees On patreon subscribers, so if you're not one yet, there's still time to join. 😘

#adoptee #adopteestories #adopteereading #adopteeson by @maryannaking

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4 years ago

I am humbled and excited to be a guest on the excellent Adoptees On podcast. Today Haley and I discuss kinship adoption, adults who use children as emotional weapons, as well as the work I have been lucky to do in Vermont as part of the Vermont Adoptee Rights Working Group, which just had a MAJOR win today as a bill granting adoptees equal rights to their original birth certificates just passed to the VT Senate. Link in my bio. by @maryannaking

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5 years ago

Update: I've been working on something good for 2022. by @maryannaking

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5 years ago

New read from the local bookstore.... #AdopteeReading #indiebookstore #buylocal by @maryannaking

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5 years ago

I love you, Instagram, but maybe a little too much... turning over a new, non-smartphone leaf... by @maryannaking

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5 years ago

Field trip for herbs! @honeyfieldfarm by @maryannaking

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5 years ago