The next day was a special one for me. Mary Luana Wiliams (we call her Lulu) has, as I said, been part of my family since she was 14. We met when she came to the Laurel Springs Children’s Performing Arts Camp near Santa Barbara that my 2nd husband, Tom Hayden and I, ran for 15 years. At the time, I could see Lulu’s great potential but knew that she needed to get away from her challenging circumstances in Oakland if she was to survive and thrive (Surthrive). For all those years, I had never met her birth mother. In recent years, Lulu has become a fine writer and has had several articles published in such magazines as “O” (“The Prodigal Daughter,”) and in “Believe.” She has been writing her memoirs for Penguin Books and, in the process, has traveled to Oakland to try and reconnect with her birth family. The ice having been broken and fences mended, the time had come for the 2 moms to finally meet.
Here is Lulu with her mother, Mary. Here are the 3 of us having lunch. Afterwards, we drove mother Mary home, saw some photos of her as a young member of the Black panther Party in her scrapbook and then Lulu dropped me at the airport for my flight home.
Whew! What an intense 3 days. I am revivified!!
