I Would Have Searched Forever [Paperback]

Sandra K. Musser (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Jan Pub (June 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0934896003
• ISBN-13: 978-0934896009
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,775,658 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book ended way too soon!, July 27, 2000

By 

Tricia Shore - See all my reviews

This review is from: I Would Have Searched Forever (Paperback)

I took this book on a relatively short business flight, from Los Angeles to San Francisco, thinking that it would keep me occupied round-trip. I wish I'd also taken Musser's "To Prison With Love" because I ended up finishing "I Would Have Searched Forever" before we even landed in San Francisco! It was a fascinating read.

I especially recommend this book to adoptees who may be in the midst of a reunion, or planning a reunion, with their families. I have been reunited a little over a year now with my mom and the rest of my natural family and I still have trouble sometimes understanding the circumstances surrounding my mom's surrender of the right to raise me. However, there was much societal pressure in the 50s and 60s for young mothers to give their children to the infertile to raise; that pressure still exists in many adoption arenas today. Sandy Musser not only explains the social conditions that led to the surrender of her first daughter but also the love that she continues to feel for her oldest child. Although she is truly the mother of her daughter, she sometimes underestimates herself as a mother. I imagine that the adoption industry rhetoric, of telling her that she's less than a mother for not raising her first child, has taken a toll on her. Through telling her story, however, she has educated many mothers and allowed them to mourn the loss of raising their children.

I was also deeply moved by the other mothers featured in the book; they described surrendering the rights to raise their children, often after a desperate attempt to keep their babies. I only pray that many young mothers and people who plan to adopt will read this book and realize how much love natural mothers have for their children, whether or not they raise them. Unfortunately, Musser's daughter, although an adult when her mother found her, still seemed to be steeped in adoptee guilt and acted more like a child than an adult concerning their relationship.

We adoptees have so many issues to deal with concerning our adoptions, but through reading Sandy Musser's book, we can begin to heal from the wounds of being separated from our mothers and our families.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars People need to read this book, January 22, 2000

By 

"offred68" (Spokane, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: I Would Have Searched Forever (Paperback)

This story has so much in common with other moms who've lost there children to adoption. It does not fit the stereotype of women who lose their children to adoption. Everyone should read it to get rid of that stereotype and replace it with reality. Sandy Musser packs so much true adoption information in this book that you won't read in most adoption books. Then read "To Prison with Love" and see how much Ms. Musser evolved in her thinking about adoption.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sincere,Forgiving,Truthfullness,A Mother First, November 5, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: I Would Have Searched Forever (Paperback)

"I Would Have Serched Forever" shows so much sincerity, trust and most of all the meaning of a Mother's love for her child. In this book the author reaches out to all women,men and children. She tells her story all of it, the good and the bad. This book tells how things were in the days of the "50"s . It truly states how past generations delt with emotional situations. It also shows how our government officials have failed the American people.

Reading the author's story reminds me of the past I grew-up in. The story shows that human beings do make mistakes or bad decisions. The book explains how some decisions were not made by us but for us. We all can learn from this book. We all must learn as the author Sandy Musser Smith learned to trust our Hearts. Sandy shows us that the walls of life are thin. Her love for God shows us to go forward, even go backwards, do what ever we think will make us succeed at the end. The author expresses that truthfullness is the key. Sandy shows us to accept that FAMILY is more than Today!. Family is yesterday and tomorrow, its spouses,parents,relatives,children,friends,pets. Family is what we make it or allow it to be.

The author shows us we shouldn't cast aside our memories. She shows us that the memories are always in our heart and we should be brave like Sandy was and listen to our hearts and do and say what we believe is right.

The author was young when she gave birth to her first child. She taught us that we are all young at one time and need the adults to assist us BUT they shouldn't make decisions for them. We must trust them to make their own decisions. Sandy is a model we can look at and say. YES! this is my choice let me make it on my own! What seems right to everyone or someone else may be wrong for others. The decisions we make to keep secrets of our pasts may hurt the ones we love in the future. She teaches us to trust the ones who really love us and give them the chance to make their own decisions. Try not to forget the bad or the good, just do as Sandy did give your love ones the chance to decide what is best for them!

This book shows the real meaning of life. The author has lived and will live in the Past, Present and in the Future. I will remember this most about her in this book. Sandy Musser Smith trusted herself and remembered the past. Her ability to do this will encourage more people to serch for what belongs to them. May her love for her family last and last and last and lasts forever!

I am looking forward to reading her other book To Prison For Love. A very Special Friend gave me these books to read. I felt like she was talking to me. The book was written from the heart. It made you believe in life and others and it made you want to cheer for yourself and others when someone has a smile on their face because they have had a hole in their heart sealed with true love. There is nothing more precious than a woman's and man's love for a child. Sandy Musser Smith may your books reach the hands of many and then God will be able to guide them to freedom and Truthfullness and True Love of a Parent.