Mike Duffy’s “Love Child”

Yesterday Maclean’s Magazine broke a story about a woman claiming to be Senator Mike Duffy’s unacknowledged daughter. Other media outlets are – predictably – referring to this woman as his “love child” and Duffy himself is saying that the story is inaccurate and is a 30 year old story.

First off, let me say that I think “love child” while it is used as a pejorative term is a term that we really should be applying to all children. Who wouldn’t want to be a child of love? 

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Happy Birthday to the twins

23 years ago I became a father for the first time. 10 days later I saw Thomas and Jennifer (no longer their names) for the last time before we left them at the hospital for their adoptive parents to pick them up for the life we chose for them.

Today I will be thinking about them as they celebrate their birthday.

Happy Birthday to Thomas and Jennifer!

The story is here: www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/episode/2012/02/09/the-boy-with-the-past-documentary

Response to Matt Walsh on Sex-Ed

Today I read a post by Matt Walsh detailing his views on sexual health education in schools.  I could not disagree more with the position he takes.  He doesn’t believe that schools should be teaching sexual health topics except perhaps anatomy in biology class. 

Teaching girls about sexual health

To start things off I would like to thank Joyce McFadden for her piece in the Huffington Post on this same topic. (www.huffingtonpost.com/joyce-mcfadden/things-little-girls-need-from-their-fathers_b_3348956.html)

I have two little girls and my wife and I have always referred to all of their body parts by their anatomical names with one early error that we need to correct.  We taught them that their external genitalia is called a vagina, when we should have said vulva.  This article has reminded me that I need to correct this.   We read the Bare Naked Book by Kathy Stinson with them as toddlers to help them learn the names of their body parts.

I know for many dads the topic of the sexuality of their little girls is an uncomfortable one.

Memory

It is interesting how memory works.  Sometimes memories are powerful and pop-up at unexpected times.  Sometimes they come unbidden and other times more consciously on specific dates.  Sometimes we just forget.  In this particular case, I forgot.

Twenty-two years ago yesterday I became a father for the first time.  Until Laura reminded me last night, I had forgotten that it was June 5th and the significance of that date in my life.  It’s not like I really forgot my kids birthday.  Thomas and Jennifer (no longer their first names) are genetically my kids, but I haven’t seen them since they were 10 days old.  I was a teenager and my girlfriend at the time and I decided to place them for adoption. I’ve written and spoken about the whole experience many times in the past and I am not going to repeat it here.  If you are interested in the story, you can listen to the radio interview I did on the subject here: (www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/episode/2012/02/09/the-boy-with-the-past-documentary)

So June 5th is a memory marker for me.  It is fading with time.  I think that happens when you find peace with your memories.