360 Square: A Memoir of Adoption and Identity

by Carol Lillieqvist Welsh

360 Square is Carol Lillieqvist Welsh’s story of spirited resilience in the face of unrelenting adversity. Carol is an adventurous, fearless, risk taker who loves challenges and lives life passionately. Her life is a testament to the positive power of walking your own true path, setting goals, and trusting in the ability to make dreams come true in the face of adversity. Adopted at the age of 6 months by what seemed like model parents, her childhood became harsher and more cruel with each passing year. Thrown out of her house at 16, her life became a roller coaster of temporary homes, fleeting relationships, and an unwanted pregnancy. Yet she never gives up on herself or her desire to understand her fiery passion for life. In her search to trace her roots she finds the true meaning of family and identity. Please visit www.360square.net for more details.

304 pages, Paperback

First published May 23, 2012

Reviews

[Diane Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting and well written. I couldn't put it down. It was a thought provoking about the adoption system.

[Sherry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow, this is the memoir of my childhood classmate! We participated in scouts, choir and other activities together in elementary school and junior high school, though in high school our divergent interests saw us go in different directions. I had no idea that she had gone through all this until we reconnected at our 60th high school reunion last month and discovered we now live only an hour or so apart. I hadn’t yet read this powerful memoir when we started making plans to get together soon. I am in awe of her survival skills, strength and will to adventure forth.

Carol’s resilience in the face of her cruel, domineering and abusive adoptive parents is amazing. Her frank, straightforward narrative presents the verbal, emotional and physical abuse of her perfectionist adoptive father, sparking her own defiance and determination, time and time again. That a father would lock a 16 year old girl out of her home for being 10 minutes late from a play rehearsal and telling her never to come back, and the mother accepting her husband’s dictates indicates the level of cruelty and insanity in this supposedly “perfect” family. It is amazing that Carol had the survival skills to find a way to find support and a way to hide her situation while supporting herself. It is no wonder she sought out warm relationships. Thank goodness for the neighbors who had her babysit for their only child and who took her in when school authorities discovered she was living on her own at a local boarding house, and who later officially adopted her.
Carol is a survivor. She knows adoption from giving up the son born of a teen pregnancy, from her abusive adopted parents, from trying to search for her own birth parents, from her own nursing education and teaching health education in schools and outreach programs to teens in situations she knew from her own experience. She know adoption from helping parents wanting to adopt and her own experience trying to adopt after the perilous delivery oh her own (2nd) son. She also through extensive research and persistence was able to discover her own birth mother and experience the joy of discovering who she was and getting ti know her birth mother and her extended family in the USA and Europe. Carol has a unique perspective to offer. Her courage, zest for a life fully lived, openness to new experiences, always learning, doing, extending her love and help to others is a model for others brave, Carol.

[Julie Laumark · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book although, form the standpoint of an adoptee, it was a bit too close to home at times! Carol experienced adoption from every angle: an adoptee herself, giving a child up for adoption & adopting a child of her own. I was hoping that the circle would be completed by her son, as an adult, seeking her out & meeting her in person. That doesn't happen, tho Carol does meet her own birth-mother & her extended biological family. I was hoping for the kind of relationship Carol has with her Mother when I sought mine, but not all stories have a happy ending. Considering how badly she was treated by her adoptive parents, Carol deserves all the blessings she gets from her relationship with her birth mother & the peace of mind that comes with closure.

My BFF got me this book. It's just ONE of the reasons she's my bestie. Thanks, Aud! LOVE YOU!