IN A HEARTBEAT
The Miracle of a Family That Was Meant to Be
by Mikki M.A. Shepard
A mother celebrates the wonder of how her family was formed, including the adoption of her son, in this debut memoir.
In the opening of her book, Shepard declares her deep belief in the “law of attraction.” She asserts that her autobiography provides “absolute proof” that the law “works” and that “biological ties” are not essential in the creation of a “real family.” Her first experience of this was at age 12 when her mother, who was divorced from the author’s biological father, married again. Shepard saw the new man as a threat to “mom and me as a team concept,” but after having coffee with William, she found she had a “dad for life.” The work moves rapidly forward to discuss how the author and her husband, Carl, came to adopt their son, CJ. Shepard describes how CJs birth mother, then unbeknown to her, was caught in a traffic jam outside a hotel in which the author was staying in Dallas: “Is this what they mean about ships passing in the night? Was CJ trying to communicate? Was it all coincidence?” For those entering the adoption process, Shepard’s story is a positive and inspirational one as it describes a supportive and respectful relationship between birth and adoptive mothers. But the author adopts a conversational writing style that lacks poise and finesse: “I just couldn’t believe that in a few minutes the dream I had for so long and, to be honest, had resigned myself to the fact that it would never happen would now be a reality. I was really going to be a mommy.” Shepard also tends to employ exclamation points unnecessarily, on occasion using two or more on one page of text: “He likes to tell people we have different names because we had different fathers!” This may reflect her palpable delight in becoming a parent, but quickly becomes irritating. The memoir is a touching statement of maternal love. But the story of how Shepard’s family was formed may appear less remarkable to a wider readership, particularly those who are skeptical about the law of attraction.
A moving but uneven adoption account.