peter
“People I meet say: ‘Oh, nice to meet you!’ And then they ask: ‘Where are you from?’ I’ve always said: ‘I’m from Ireland.’ And then, they ask: ‘Okay, but where are you really from?’ Growing up, I never understood how to reply. Should I tell them the long version? My mother had me at the time of the collapse of communism in Romania. She was a single mother with three children. They were really, really poor and if she had kept me we would’ve probably all staved to death. In order to keep my brother and my sisters alive, she had to make the decision… I was only a few days old when I was adopted by an Irish couple. Mom and Dad were already actively looking into adoption when they got a call about this baby who was just born in a Romanian hospital. They made the trip to come to see me. I arrived in Ireland when I was 4-weeks-old. As I said, I’m Irish. Or should I just say: Well, I’m originally from Romania.”