Mary Ellen Gambutti
I Must Have Wandered:
An Adopted Air Force Daughter Recalls
I Must Have Wandered is a captivating journey of self-discovery and triumph
over adversity.
Travel through a collage of vignettes, poetry, lyrical prose, letters, fragments, and photos in this poignant story of a
post-WWII South Carolina infant girl's relinquishment and adoption by an Air Force couple. Her 1950s childhood is
marked by military family separations and transience, and she comes of age amid the heightened anxiety of the turbulent 1960s.
The complexity of primal trauma, guilt, grief, and the effects of her father's intelligence officer's role; its culture of confidentiality,
secrecy, and discipline, and his religious piety, fuel her desire to learn her true origins. With the help of adoptee advocates,
the barrier to her sealed birth records yields, and she embarks on a quest for her natural mother. Decades later, DNA testing
leads her to a greater wealth of family, and she is closer to reconciling with the loss and privilege of her adopted life.
An inspirational must-read. Includes a large photo archive, bibliography, and resources.
