Margaret Singleton:
      I was born in Toronto, Ontario, and at the age of seven and a half months was adopted away and grew up on farms in Soperton, Brockville and Athens, Ontario. My early education was in rural one room schools, until grade seven and eight when I attended a four room school in Athens. Those early years growing up on farms and attending rural schools are a treasured memory and had a profound influence on who I became.
      The rupture from my birth mother was the driving force behind my unrelenting search for her, even when I was threatened by the legal system for breaking the law as it was illegal to search for your birth parents before the Freedom of Information Act in 1983. I continued in spite of the warnings. Hundreds of hours of research resulted in writing about my biological family, "The History and Genealogy of the Bicknell Family in Canada," First Choice Books, Victoria B.C., 2006, and later, my Memoir; "The Box in the Closet; My journey to claim who I am."  Trafford Publishing, USA & Canada, 2011.
      There are many times when I need another's wisdom or support and I've learned to turn to my daughter, my friends, my church community, or a professional, and I trust that inner intuition that's there, waiting to be called upon.
      Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, said, "Learn to get in touch with the silence within yourself and know that everything in this life has purpose. There are no mistakes, no coincidences, all events are blessings given to us to learn from."
      My career was in Education and I taught Kindergarten for the Ottawa Board of Education. My proposal for a Special Education program for young children was approved in 1978 and I established the first all day Special Education Kindergarten Program in the province. I retired in 1992 to write, to explore more of the world and to be free to experience new opportunities.
       Along my road, the one less traveled, I graduated from Toronto Teacher's' College in 1956, Carleton University, Bachelor of  Arts Degree, in 1976, and University of Ottawa, Bachelor of Education in 1980.
      In my present significant writing I am delving into the trauma of unwed mothers through the ages and the deplorable treatment emotionally, psychologically and in some instances physically which most unwed mothers endured.  
      I live with my cat companion, Shakira, am richly blessed with a loving daughter, special friends, good health and I enjoy life. I like writing in all seasons, downhill skiing in winter, kayaking in summer and hiking in the autumn. I love to read and the stack of books beside my chair never seems to deplete.