DI WELLFARE, 1950-2008
Sad news out of Australia. On Tuesday, internationally renowned first mother activist Di Wellfare passed away reportedly after a fight with pancreatic cancer. Di was the founder of Origins-New South Wales. She was a pioneer, a fighter and a visionary. A woman and mother to be reckoned with. She changed the face of adoption Down Under and beyond. Di and I used to go at it on alt.adoption. She was really good at pissing off people on our side. I can only imagine what she did to the other side. But Di didn’t care what people thought–a trait we should all cultivate. Most of our clashes were about strategy and her occasional odd ideas about American history. One of Di’s most famous pronouncements on alt.adoption was about monkeys. It remains a running joke there: Don’t flatter yourself too much about parenting. It hardly takes intellect, just instinct. Even monkeys do it hanging upside down in a tree, scratching their bums at the same time. In case you still don’ get it, which you obviously won’t, it means: dont’ think you’re superior because you parent. Even monkeys do it. …you sure you can’t hang upside down in trees?……oh nevermind. You’d never Continue Reading →