A powerful and honest account based on three decades of true-life experience Award-winning The Branches We Cherish weaves together thought-provoking, joyous, and poignant reflections of four birth parents, birth grandmothers, adoptive parents, and two adopted children. In 1992, Linda and David long to have a child. They decide to adopt a baby and learn they can only do so under an open arrangement where the biological parents and the adoptive family know each other's identities, and choose to remain in contact after the adoption is finalized ... possibly for life! There are no ready answers to their many questions: What happens in the first year? Twenty years later? What does visitation between birth and adoptive families look like? Will it be awkward to raise a child with the birth parents in the picture? How do adopted children feel about this open arrangement? In the early 90's there is little guidance for long-term relationships between adoptive and birth families, so Linda and David have to learn as they go. Diving in with open hearts and open minds, they build relationships based on mutual trust, respect, deep gratitude for one another, and most importantly, unconditional love for a child. They learn just how important having the children's birth parents and families in their lives is for everyone's emotional health—including their own. Discover the challenges of open adoption and the extraordinary gratification available to all members of the adoption constellation when they are willing and able to cultivate and maintain these lifetime relationships.

Discovering our true selves is the most important journey in our lives. It is a journey of awakening we are all invited to go on. In this book Ray openly shares the testimony of his life with admirable honesty in the hope of inspiring and empowering others to wake up by asking, “Who am I truly?” and “Why am I here?” ‘Love is the Answer: Wake Up Who You Really Are, Embrace Your Truth And Live the Life You Were Meant To Live’ is a self-help book based on the very personal spiritual journey of the author, including a life changing mystical experience during which the author received a divine message, which he promised to share. The promise is manifested in this book and the message can be yours if you can open your heart enough to open its pages. The author hopes this book becomes a trusted friend whose words provide inspiration and a road map for spiritual seekers to embark on their own journey, to tap into their higher selves through the energy of unconditional love and find the answers to their questions for better living.

Take a guided tour from a writer who grew up and studied on Native American reservations and join those throughout the world—from Siberia to South America, Australia to Africa—who venerate the drum for its healing and celebratory powers. Through painting, cleansing, blessing, smudging, dedicating, chanting, and performing, you’ll find your own special beat, transforming the drum into a medicinal tool. Become one with a purchased or homemade instrument. Draw on the knowledge of Native American and other cultures to drum away fear, purify, establish a sacred space, and reach into areas of the consciousness that would otherwise be inaccessible. Extra special bonus: a CD with more than an hour’s worth of music for a Sacred Directions ceremony, meditation, trance, and more.