Spring Lake writer’s book explores mystery behind her adoption

After decades of writing other people’s stories for publications in West Michigan and beyond, Spring Lake-based journalist Patti Eddington has published her first book, “The Girl With Three Birthdays,” about her own mysterious origins.
Patti Eddington's new book
Eddington always knew she was adopted. While her parents were always open to her asking questions about her origins, she didn’t want to hurt their feelings by showing her curiosity. She does remember hearing the story of how her adopted mother cut off her hair and dyed it when she was a toddler, but chalked it up to being eccentric.

She later learned there was more to the story, and after petitioning the court to unseal records that had been locked up for 60 years and discovering that she had three birthdays, she began to question everything. Her book shares the journey of her quest to find her true identity. The book has been praised for being both “heart-wrenching and life-affirming” by Wade Rouse, a best-selling author from West Michigan.

The Lakeshore caught up with Eddington for a Q&A about her book and her love of the Spring Lake community. 

The Lakeshore: After a career writing about other people, how did you know your very personal story about your origins and your journey to discover it was something you wanted to share with strangers?

Patti Eddington: You’re correct, I spent a lifetime writing about the lives and accomplishments of others, and I interviewed a lot of authors over the years.  I honestly never intended to write a book about the mysteries that unfurled after I met my biological family and approached a court to see the adoption records that had been locked up for almost six decades. After I saw the contents, I lived my life in a stupor for a while, but once I began to solve a few of the mysteries the report contained, I realized it was a story I wanted to tell. At its heart my book is a love letter to my parents and to all adoptive parents. 
Patti Eddington
TL: Your novel-esque memoir “The Girl with Three Birthdays” has received praise from other authors, including one who described the story as "a penetrating account of adoption, tightly held secrets and the power of love, told with dogged honesty and heart." What do you hope readers take away from your book? 

PE: I’ve had some early readers express sadness at a few of my childhood stories about being bullied and never really fitting in, but I hope the underlying love I felt from my parents and family comes through. On our toughest days, as long as we can feel the kind of warmth and support I had, we can hopefully persevere and overcome. Not everybody has that, I know. I was extremely lucky. 

TL: With a long career writing for newspapers and magazines, how was writing a book different for you in terms of time and research? 

PE: Oh, time, for sure. I used to do a lot of cover stories for the lifestyle section in the Grand Rapids Press and I think, at most, I would get a deadline of a few weeks for a long piece. The book comes in at 75,000 words and it took me about two years to write. After it was accepted I had two more years of editing and rewriting and proofreading. Because of the nature of the story, I was incredibly grateful for my journalism background. It was easy for me to research what was necessary to have the court unseal my closed adoption records, and I already knew how to file a FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) request, which also came into play at one point. 

TL: What's your advice to someone who might have a similar mystery to solve about their own origins and identity? Anything you would have done differently the second time around?

PE: Ultimately, I think we’re lucky to live in this age when DNA testing is possible. However, I always urge caution to anyone who thinks they want to spit in that tube. I had absolutely no clue about what my results would unleash, and I’ve heard some pretty intense stories about other families; it seems almost all have a secret of some sort in their past. Be ready for any possibility. I let my test — given as a gift by my daughter — sit almost a year before I mailed it. In retrospect, I would have done it immediately. I’d be a year younger going through all of the intense work and pressure that comes with publishing a book. 

TL: You are a proud resident of Spring Lake. What do you love about your community and do you think it has played a role in your success as a journalist and author?

PE: My husband and I have lived here since he opened his veterinary practice in 1988, and it has certainly become our beloved home. We are lucky to have our family here and so many friends. It’s wonderful to sit on our deck, which overlooks a bayou of Spring Lake, and watch all of the amazing birds and wildlife throughout the seasons. I have a nice office area with a large-screen computer, but I wrote this book sitting at my kitchen counter on my old laptop so I could glance up every so often and take in the beauty. Otherwise, maybe it would have only taken me a year and a half. But I still consider all that bayou-gazing time well spent.