Inspired Living for Women: Conversations With Women Over 40

Beyond the Myth of Adoption: Anna Maria DiDio on Parenting, Identity & Belonging

• Lauri Wakefield • Episode 18

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In this episode, Anna Maria DiDio shares what many adoption stories leave out—the emotional layers of loss, identity, and adjustment that unfold long after the papers are signed. We talk about bringing 7-year-old Priscilla home from a Mexican orphanage to suburban Philadelphia, and how love alone can’t erase the trauma of being uprooted. Anna Maria opens up about early struggles—language barriers, sibling dynamics, and the myth that adopted children should feel “grateful.”

Whether adoption is part of your life or you simply want to understand it better, this conversation offers powerful insight and hope.

Key Topics Discussed:

  • The hidden emotional challenges of international adoption, including cultural shock, language loss, and grief.
  • "The myth of adoption" — why acknowledging an adopted child's sense of loss is essential for healing and connection.
  • How adoption impacts the entire family, from the adjustment struggles of adopted children to shifting dynamics with biological siblings.
  • How Anna Maria DiDio's L.I.F.E. Adventures children's book series helps families open up conversations about identity, belonging, and heritage.

Key Takeaways:

  • Loving an adopted child well means creating space for their grief, not expecting gratitude.
  • Healing in adoption happens when families are willing to sit with uncomfortable emotions instead of trying to "fix" them quickly.
  • Siblings in adoptive families need just as much support and patience as the adopted child, as family dynamics shift for everyone.
  • Storytelling — like Anna Maria DiDio’s L.I.F.E. Adventures series — can bridge the gap between silence and understanding, helping children process complex feelings.

Noteworthy Quotes:

“Families come in all shapes and sizes — it’s important to recognize that and still be able to communicate and stay connected.”

“Although parents have the best of intentions, with love… love alone doesn’t make the fear or loss go away.”

Anna Maria's Bio: Anna Maria DiDio is an author, speaker, and educator dedicated to helping families navigate adoption, identity, attachment, and grief. Inspired by her family’s adoption journey to Mexico, she wrote Love at the Border: An Adoption Adventure and created the L.I.F.E. Adventures children’s series to foster open conversations in adoptive, foster, and blended families. With an MSW from the University of Pennsylvania, Anna Maria also volunteers with nonprofits worldwide and has a background in human resources.

More About Anna Maria:
Website: AMDiDio.com
Books


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Lauri Wakefield [00:00:41]:
Hi. Welcome to the Inspired Living for Women podcast. Thanks for joining me today. I'm your host, Lauri Wakefield, and my guest today is Anna Marie Didio. So welcome to the show. 

Anna Maria DiDio [00:00:50]:
Thank you. 

Lauri Wakefield [00:00:51]:
We have a lot of good things that we're gonna we're gonna go over today. So Anna Maria is an author, a speaker, and an educator committed to helping families explore adoption identity, attachment, and grief. As an adopted mother, she was inspired by her family's journey to Mexico to write her first book called Love at the Border, an Adoption Adventure. Since then, she's authored four more books, including three in her L-I-F-E series, adventure series, which encourages open, honest conversations within adoptive, foster, and blended families. For over twenty years, Anna Marie has volunteered with nonprofits both locally and internationally. She holds an MSW from, the University of Pennsylvania and has a career background in human, it was a few years back, but in human resources and employee relations. I wanted to ask you quickly. When I was saying the Life Adventures, what does that stand for?

Anna Maria DiDio [00:01:45]:
Love inspires families everywhere.

Lauri Wakefield [00:01:47]:
So Yeah. Okay. I actually saw that tag, I think, at the bottom of something that I was reading about you. Okay. So let's go back and talk about your career background in human resources and employee relations and then how you ended up getting more into what you're doing right now. But and then before we got on the call, I thought that you had gotten the Master's Degree while you were doing that, but it was actually before that. So why don't we talk about that?

Anna Maria DiDio [00:02:11]:
Because as a psychology major, I was always people focused. So I thought at graduation, I thought I wanted to be a family therapist, work with families, work with children. I really wasn't sure. So I enrolled in the MSW program at the University of Pennsylvania, but then through internships and some work experience, thought that the business environment was really, a better fit for me and transitioned to human resources. So worked in all phases, levels of human resources, and but mostly concentrating at the end of my career in employee relations.

Lauri Wakefield [00:02:46]:
Okay. Yeah. I saw that she worked at Fidelity at one point for quite a few years too. Right?

Anna Maria DiDio [00:02:51]:
And Pfizer. I retired from Pfizer.

Lauri Wakefield [00:02:54]:
Okay. So then you transitioned into what you're doing right now. So why don't you talk about that transition?

Anna Maria DiDio [00:03:00]:
When I retired, I I still wanted to just reflecti on our experience as a family in adopting an international child while having a biological child. I had kept a journal for years and thought, you know what? I'm gonna write all of this down. And so I wrote this memoir, Love at the Border, which was really our experience beginning with infertility and how we came to the adoption decision and just all of the actually, all of the trauma that begins with that. But then after just reflecting back on that experience, it took me so long to really understand the trauma of adoption and all that my daughter had been through. And what yeah. I mean, obviously, this was happening through the years. She was when she found out she was, we had as she mentioned, we adopted her at age almost age seven.

Lauri Wakefield [00:03:55]:
Okay.

Anna Maria DiDio [00:03:55]:
So this is different from infant adoption. She had six, almost seven years of experience in an orphanage with women that were just wonderful and loving and playing with kids all day in a country where she was familiar. And then going to sleep one day in Cuernavaca, Mexico, and then the next day in suburban Philadelphia.

Lauri Wakefield [00:04:16]:
Right.

Anna Maria DiDio [00:04:17]:
A shock for anyone. And it took some time for me to for that to all sink in. It sounds funny saying it now, but just her whole experience, I wanted to write about that and talk about that with them. The best way to do that was first the memoir, as I said, reflecting on our experience. But then this, these the L.I.F.E. Adventures are a series of three picture books for children age four to eight that talk about from the child's point of view, the international adoption experience, reflecting on who they are, who am I, who do I look like, where do I come from, and then transitioning things as simple as reading a story out loud to classmates, how hard that was for my daughter to read it aloud in English. So that's the journey really of those three children's books.

Lauri Wakefield [00:05:05]:
Okay. So when you adopted her, you already had a biological child, right? Okay. So that's really interesting. So she moved from or was moved from Mexico to The United States. And, yeah, she must have been afraid and uncertain and not trusting. 

Anna Maria DiDio [00:05:21]:
Well, and then at the same time, not being able to communicate with them. So how frustrating could that be? And within a matter of months, though, she lost her Spanish, which was another loss for her. So through the years, we tried to support her to get that back. She was interested in that. We hired tutors and but once regular classroom work started in middle school and then high school, her accent returned, and she took it on with a passion and reclaimed her Spanish and is now fluent once again.

Lauri Wakefield [00:05:54]:
Okay. So was she quiet initially? Like, she probably didn't, did she keep to herself in a shell a little bit?

Anna Maria DiDio [00:06:02]:
And when between that and tears, yes. Yeah. Tears and tantrums and just that but, again, that's a part of trauma and disassociating from the family. You're so correct with not being part of the family. So that's, again, so difficult. And what's often referred to as the myth of adoption, and that is that, oh, she's so lucky. People would tell me, she's lucky to be adopted by your family, such a wonderful family.

Anna Maria DiDio [00:06:31]:
And although parents have the best of intentions with love, but love is not really enough. And that's, again, what I think is a unique feature of my books is to highlight the fact that these children are experiencing trauma and not to be afraid of that and to have these discussions.

Lauri Wakefield [00:06:51]:
Right.

Anna Maria DiDio [00:06:52]:
Not a threat to them. It's not a question about their parenting. It's not. It's very important for the adopted child to feel love and grounding.

Lauri Wakefield [00:07:01]:
And accepted even, yeah, even for the fearful behaviors and the lack of trust and things like that. You said you had a psychology. You had a degree in psychology. Right? So that probably helped in some ways too, just understanding the situation.

Anna Maria DiDio [00:07:18]:
When you're faced with it, your subject you fall into the trap of unloving her. I can't do anything. So why is she happy? And so these questions and I don't wanna paint the picture of misery and

Lauri Wakefield [00:07:30]:
No. But frustration, probably.

Anna Maria DiDio [00:07:31]:
But frustration, but there are many times we had wonderful family experiences, vacations, and all kinds of, and she's a funny kid, and it's, it was, again, a wonderful experience. But I thought when I left the corporate world, this was really calling to me to reach out to parents and open this conversation.

Lauri Wakefield [00:07:53]:
So why don't we talk about, okay? So the books that you wrote, the first book that you wrote was basically about the experience with your daughter. Right?

Anna Maria DiDio [00:08:03]:
The being the memoir or the

Lauri Wakefield [00:08:05]:
Yeah. The first or not yeah. the first book that you wrote, Love at the Border.

Anna Maria DiDio [00:08:09]:
Yes. Yeah. Memoir of our again, beginning with our experience with infertility, and really, but I go back to how I even met my husband, but just our experience in trying to have a family that was in our head, in our brain, and what that experience looked like entering the world of adoption and continuing with then, obviously, we were successful at self coding, and we had a beautiful baby girl and then continuing with adoption and being successful adopting from Mexico.

Lauri Wakefield [00:08:40]:
So what's your adopted daughter's name? Her first name?

Anna Maria DiDio [00:08:45]:
Priscilla.

Lauri Wakefield [00:08:46]:
Okay. I was gonna say because Grace's Right Time, so that was the second book that you wrote. So that was, yeah.

Anna Maria DiDio [00:08:51]:
So Grace's Time is Now, a chapter book for middle grade children age eight to 12. So it's not really about my daughter because she would kill me if I heard any more about her. And it's about a girl in, like, sixth going into seventh grade, and she's very shy. She's book smart, but really wanting friends. She moves to a new city and meets a boy who's adopted. And his parents were very insistent on a private adoption, and he is interested to find his birth mother. So they set out on a secret adventure to find his birth mother. So I'm writing a series of three books about this girl, Grace, and her experiences really with different, with blended families.

Lauri Wakefield [00:09:37]:
Okay.

Anna Maria DiDio [00:09:37]:
Her friend, Andy, who's adopted, her own family where there's some divorce issues. And then I'm writing a third book now. That's with an editor. I'm writing a third book now about family grief and loss, kids transitioning out of that.

Lauri Wakefield [00:09:52]:
Okay. So are the three books all written or you're still in the process of writing them?

Anna Maria DiDio [00:09:55]:
The books, one, of course, Grace's Time is written and out there on Amazon and Barnes and Noble, wherever you can buy books. Second one is with an editor, and that's called Grace's Main Event. 

Lauri Wakefield [00:10:06]:
Okay. What was that? Okay. So that would be the sixth book. 

Anna Maria DiDio [00:10:09]:
Second one. Third one in that series, I don't have a title for that yet.

Lauri Wakefield [00:10:13]:
Okay. But the L.I.F.E. Adventure children's series, and that's for younger children. Right?

Anna Maria DiDio [00:10:17]:
That's for the younger children. Exactly. Yes.

Lauri Wakefield [00:10:19]:
So you have three in there. 

Anna Maria DiDio [00:10:21]:
Carla the Conqueror. The second book is How I Wonder Where You Are. And then the third book is Many People to Love. 

Lauri Wakefield [00:10:25]:
So you wanna go through the

Anna Maria DiDio [00:10:27]:
The first one was actually Many People to Love. So that's the story of Carla being adopted from Columbia and just what she went through in getting used to a new home, a new atmosphere, new food. How she, how did she say goodbye to those women that raised her, and how will she feel comfortable in a new home? So the just the discovery of the both women, where she came from and where she is now are loved and supportive. And how I wonder where you are, Carla is tasked with a family tree project at school. And, again, that was triggering for my daughter, not knowing but the assignment of having to put together a family tree Right. Knowing half the people on the tree. The point of the book, and, again, one of the unique things about my books is that Carla asks questions like, I'm out shopping with my mom and my sister who's a biological child, and everyone says, oh, she looks so much like my mom, but no one ever says that to me. I don't look like her. I don't sound like her. And where did I come from? Who do I look like? And so those questions are out there that children are thinking. And, again, the point of the book is for parents to possibly raise those questions and signal that it's okay to ask those things, mitigating that trauma. And then the third book is Carla the Conqueror, and Carla's asked to read, well, her favorite story out loud in English to her class. And she has a little bit of a panic attack and needs special care. So my daughter bonded very well with her ESL. I'm not sure they call it ESL anymore, but with her ESL team and just that extra attention and practice and patience from her teachers. She did not have a as good experience as Carla, but right, that's what I try to, again, open the conversation that it does take a little bit more effort.

Lauri Wakefield [00:12:24]:
Right. Patience.

Anna Maria DiDio [00:12:25]:
My daughter in the book, Carla, climbs under her teacher's desk because she's very afraid. And this is something my daughter did, but, unfortunately, she got detention for that. Wow. I don't Yeah. I didn't at the same time. And I didn't even realize it until I was sharing the story many years later. She goes, oh, do you know I got detention for doing that?

Lauri Wakefield [00:12:47]:
Oh my gosh. You'd think that there would be, like, an understanding that would go there and try to find out why did you feel like you needed to hide? 

Anna Maria DiDio [00:12:54]:
Right. And so anyway, so these are just all opportunities for families to come to self understanding of family adoption, adoption identity, loss, trauma, 

Lauri Wakefield [00:13:06]:
So when you adopted Priscilla, was she bilingual, or she only spoke Spanish?

Anna Maria DiDio [00:13:11]:
She only spoke Spanish.

Lauri Wakefield [00:13:12]:
Okay. So did, so was anybody, were either you or husband bilingual? 

Anna Maria DiDio [00:13:15]:
No.

Lauri Wakefield [00:13:16]:
Wow. That must have been tough. Yeah.

Anna Maria DiDio [00:13:19]:
So it was again, adding to that whole trauma experience. We hired a tutor and had lessons. Our other daughter participated in lessons in Spanish and in so we had a Spanish English lesson for both of them to try to integrate.

Lauri Wakefield [00:13:34]:
Yeah. So how did your like, your biological daughter, how did she adjust all that?

Anna Maria DiDio [00:13:39]:
That was, you're smart to zone in on that because you're right. It was very difficult. At one point, she had a total meltdown. She's getting all the attention, and that was what was happening. It was just all hands on deck because we were trying to, we had some, people help us with translations, get her understanding of English. It did not happen overnight, and it was very difficult. And so we did have help with the translations. And as I said, the tutoring, the food, the just, the routine. At one point, I had a friend over that was helping to translate, and my daughter was talking to her. I said, oh, what did she say? What did she say? And she said she is bored here.

Lauri Wakefield [00:14:24]:
Wow.

Anna Maria DiDio [00:14:25]:
Which I thought was so hilarious. Because I don't think again, the myth of adoption. Oh, she has a home now.

Anna Maria DiDio [00:14:31]:
Parents. She used to live with 50 kids and play all day. It was summertime, play all. They had a pool. They had, it was Mexico. The weather was gorgeous. And now she's in a home in Suburban Philadelphia with one other child that they don't even speak the same language. And she said she was bored. And so we obviously tried to ramp up the activities. You can't compete with them.

Lauri Wakefield [00:14:56]:
Well, you can't. Yeah. To me. Yeah. It was just a diff a different environment for her, something that she had to adjust to. Yes. Your older daughter, what's her name?

Anna Maria DiDio [00:15:06]:
Isabella.

Lauri Wakefield [00:15:07]:
Okay. So Isabella and Priscilla, how much of an age difference is there between the two of them?

Anna Maria DiDio [00:15:11]:
They're only one year apart.

Lauri Wakefield [00:15:12]:
Oh, okay. So you're -

Anna Maria DiDio [00:15:14]:
two years in school apart, so we kept Priscilla was actually a year behind in school.

Lauri Wakefield [00:15:19]:
Okay. So they went to the same school together?

Anna Maria DiDio [00:15:23]:
Yes. They went to, they ended up going to different high schools.

Lauri Wakefield [00:15:26]:
So how long did it take your, how long did it take Isabella to be okay with the whole transition?

Anna Maria DiDio [00:15:35]:
She was always very mature for her age. So she did what she needed to do. They were complete opposite personalities, which I often laugh at today. Oh, people say, oh, were they close? Did they do everything together? No. They just, Isabella, my older daughter, loved to study and read. And, of course, the transition from speaking Spanish. English was not her first language. So she hated to read and do homework and spent more time trying to get out of it.

Lauri Wakefield [00:16:01]:
Right.

Anna Maria DiDio [00:16:01]:
It's not, two of them. So it was very comical at times, but we had a lot of laughs as a family.

Lauri Wakefield [00:16:09]:
Yeah. So now Priscilla, you when you first got her and she had to learn the English language and just get used to the routines in your home and stuff like that and get used to just the way that you and your husband and your daughter, your oldest daughter are. So how long did it take Priscilla to start warming up and just, like, maybe feeling, wow, this kinda is my family. You know?

Anna Maria DiDio [00:16:31]:
I don't think there was a moment in time that I can pinpoint, but because the actual her beginning with us was in the summer, it was a natural transition because we were it was an open schedule. So we had a we would go to the beach and do summer things, and so it was a little bit more relaxed. And then when school took over, the routine happened. So the family falls into a routine that she was in school. So she was oh, wait. I wasn't staring at her twenty four seven, waiting for affirmation. So she was able to go to school. She's a very friendly kid, very talkative, and met friends. And so all that kinda just gelled as the year progressed.

Lauri Wakefield [00:17:13]:
It's gotta be difficult when you're the adopted child because I would imagine that there would be like, does she share any of her feelings about why did I end up in an orphanage? Why did my, did her mother just -

Anna Maria DiDio [00:17:28]:
Yeah. We don't really know much about her story, so that's where we left it. She had a very close relationship with the women at the orphanage.

Anna Maria DiDio [00:17:37]:
She's maintained that relationship for many years. We're still in touch occasionally. She did a study abroad program in Mexico and was, visited with the women, visited the orphanage. We went there as a family another time. So it's, I think that help, that just helps with her, again, identity. We've been back too, many times.

Lauri Wakefield [00:17:58]:
You'd say that she's pretty much adjusted then to- 

Anna Maria DiDio [00:18:02]:
So yeah. She's a college graduate. She's responsible.

Lauri Wakefield [00:18:05]:
Oh, wow. 

Anna Maria DiDio [00:18:06]:
And yeah. She's okay. 

Lauri Wakefield [00:18:08]:
What'd she get her degree in?

Anna Maria DiDio [00:18:09]:
It's combination Spanish and social work.

Lauri Wakefield [00:18:12]:
Oh, nice. Okay. We were gonna talk about the volunteer work that you do. You've been doing that for over twenty years.

Anna Maria DiDio [00:18:18]:
Yes. I always wanted because the corporate work is very focused on corporate objectives, and I always given my social work roots, I always, I've always been interested in furthering the cause of women. And so the, I've been on the board and had leadership roles in several organizations that were helping women in with everything. But their businesses-

Lauri Wakefield [00:18:45]:
Yes. You had two that you were involved with and that you have, two that you're still currently involved with. Yeah. One of them is a women international leaders. It's not that, you're the-

Anna Maria DiDio [00:18:55]:
I was president for a few years, but now I'm I when I was on the board, now I'm now that it the organization has evolved into a giving circle, so now I'm just a regular member of.

Lauri Wakefield [00:19:05]:
Okay. So now what do they do?

Anna Maria DiDio [00:19:07]:
Women International Leaders raises money for grants and microfinance loans for women in low income countries that are trying to start their own businesses.

Lauri Wakefield [00:19:19]:
Okay.

Anna Maria DiDio [00:19:20]:
We loan money to banks that in turn loan, give micro loans to women that are doing anything from midwifery, flower arranging, and, food production, crafts. And we and then once a year, we used to visit the women that we worked with. So we've been to Guatemala, The Dominican Republic, and Bolivia. And so it's it was a fascinating experience. But now the organization has downsized a bit, and we're doing, we're not traveling anymore, and doing, giving circle grants and loans.

Lauri Wakefield [00:19:53]:
So do they serve people in The United States also, or is it just out internationally? 

Anna Maria DiDio [00:19:57]:
Internationally.

Lauri Wakefield [00:19:59]:
Okay. Yeah. Because I saw it's Greater Philadelphia, the area of Greater Philadelphia, but that's just where it's located.

Anna Maria DiDio [00:20:03]:
It is where it's located. 

Lauri Wakefield [00:20:05]:
Okay. And then the other one was Impact one hundred. Hundred. 

Anna Maria DiDio [00:20:10]:
So I was on the grant. I was on the board managing the, the grant giving, and now I'm just a regular member. But still, it's Impact one hundred gives high impact grants to organizations, five zero one c organizations in the Philadelphia area.

Lauri Wakefield [00:20:27]:
Okay. So that one's local. So when you got into the, so the volunteer work, was that something that, had you thought about it for a long time before you started?

Anna Maria DiDio [00:20:39]:
I've always wanted to do it. And years before that, I was with an organization on the board of an organization called Women's Way. Same sort of idea that they're furthering causes of women in the Philadelphia area. So I've always volunteered and been part of organizations on the board of a local art center, and it's just something I like to do that's a compliment to, again, like, the corporate work that's a different part of your brain.

Lauri Wakefield [00:21:06]:
Okay. So I just had a couple of questions about the adoptive experience. So, after you adopted Priscilla, brought her back, and then you saw the way that your older daughter was affected by it, did you ever feel guilt at all? Does that make sense, what I'm asking? I don't mean guilt. I just meant guilt because of her feelings.

Anna Maria DiDio [00:21:26]:
No. Because we wanted our older daughter to have that family experience of having a sibling. So that's what we had committed to. And with the understanding that taking the focus off her really was a good thing. Life is not fair, and it's that we're, it was wonderful that we had that time with her. But right. wanted a sibling for her. We wanted a larger family. And there are always good days and bad days. But-

Lauri Wakefield [00:21:53]:
Yeah. I wasn't asking like that. Like, I think, oh, you should feel guilty at all. I was just curious about how, like, as a parent, because sometimes for silly reasons, we feel guilty for the way our child feels, and sometimes it's things we have no control over. But, you wanna go ahead.

Anna Maria DiDio [00:22:07]:
No. I was gonna say, but maybe what you're not asking is, you know, what would I do differently? And I think because it did, it was a good strategy. I should have spent more time with each of them individually. We had this family. Oh, let's do things as a family. I mean, we did so many wonderful things. But I think I would have spent, if I had to do it over again, I would spend more time with each of them individually. But I'm doing that now because they live in different cities, and we do different things. So it's good.

Lauri Wakefield [00:22:35]:
Do they keep in touch? Are they, I know you said that they're very different. 

Anna Maria DiDio [00:22:38]:
Well, I wouldn't say close, but, yes, they do.

Lauri Wakefield [00:22:40]:
Okay. So you, you're gearing up towards, you're gonna finish the third book in the first series.

Anna Maria DiDio [00:22:46]:
In this middle grade series. Yeah.

Lauri Wakefield [00:22:48]:
And then your plan is to go, to get into speaking and to travel to different-

Anna Maria DiDio [00:22:51]:
Yes.

Lauri Wakefield [00:22:52]:
So what are you gonna do with that then?

Anna Maria DiDio [00:22:55]:
I'd like to speak to parent or family organizations and talk about blended families and all the topics that I've been emphasizing, not, and not just because due to adoption, but perhaps-

Lauri Wakefield [00:23:09]:
Oh, marriage and stuff.

Anna Maria DiDio [00:23:11]:
Marriage, death, and just all the circumstances surrounding that. And today, it's difficult. Families come in all shapes and sizes and political beliefs, though it's really important to recognize that and be able to communicate.

Lauri Wakefield [00:23:25]:
Yeah. I know. When I was a kid growing up, it was rare to see, talking about divorce, it was rare to see a divorce. And today, it's so prevalent. Not that it's good or bad. It's just the way it is. And they're definitely, it's way more complicated than it used to be. Yeah. And I was gonna say too, I think any parent, it's like when you look back, there are always things that you could have done differently.

Anna Maria DiDio [00:23:45]:
Yes. Of course.

Lauri Wakefield [00:23:47]:
But that's exciting about the speaking. Have you done any speaking yet? 

Anna Maria DiDio [00:23:51]:
Not on this topic. Because I was in human resources for so many years, I did a lot of training on topics that were not easy to discuss, harassment, discrimination, and leadership. And so I've done that kind of public speaking.

Anna Maria DiDio [00:24:06]:
Though I am used to talking about topics, but this will be really fun because I have so many personal stories and anecdotes and things that I think will help parents.


Lauri Wakefield [00:24:19]:
Yeah. So before we got on the call, I asked you about and something that I read, it called you a washed up athlete. And we talked about that. You used to play basketball. You did when you were in college.

Anna Maria DiDio [00:24:29]:
Yes. I played basketball for Villanova.

Lauri Wakefield [00:24:32]:
Okay. And you you're still obviously a fan of women's basketball.

Anna Maria DiDio [00:24:37]:
I'm a big fan. Yes. Now I'm, now I have a Peloton. So that's my bike riding, and I do weight training and I do exercise out and about. So that's important.

Lauri Wakefield [00:24:48]:
So, yeah, just working, like, being on a team sure teaches you a lot about life too, doesn't it? Do you have any insights you wanna share about that?

Anna Maria DiDio [00:24:55]:
It's the first lesson in really getting used to seeing people in all kinds of circumstances, stressful and fun. And it's just, you know, team building and team experiences are just great for kids. So yeah-

Lauri Wakefield [00:25:09]:
And having each other's back and not trying to be the star of the team and things like that. Yeah. There's a lot. And, also, I think when you compete, that's really important to be able to know how to lose. You know what I mean? Because you're never gonna win, I shouldn't say never, but it's unlikely that you're ever gonna win every single game, and it's just, you have to have the sportsmanship either way. I'm trying to, I can't really think of anything any other questions that I wanted to ask you. Is there any, are there any other things that you'd like to share that the, that might be helpful to the audience?

Anna Maria DiDio [00:25:41]:
There's more information about me and just family experiences on my website. That's amdidio.com, a m d i d i o dot com. I write for medium, so occasionally. I'm trying to write a newsletter, that's a little bit more predictable. It's a little bit unpredictable now, but and I so I, but I write articles for Medium on various topics, including family adoption, other family reflections. And the books are out there for sale on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and, and I'd love to know what you think. My contact information is on my website. If you have an adoption story or want to talk, you can reach out at any time.

Lauri Wakefield [00:26:21]:
Do you, don't have a podcast, do you? 

Anna Maria DiDio [00:26:23]:
No. No. 

Lauri Wakefield [00:26:24]:
Are you thinking about ever starting one? 

Anna Maria DiDio [00:26:26]:
No, I'm not really. Doing right now, just guesting. And, again, the speaking, the writing, the volunteering is-

Lauri Wakefield [00:26:32]:
Takes up enough time, I'm sure. Good. That's good. Speaking of Philadelphia, what's the weather like up there?

Anna Maria DiDio [00:26:39]:
Oh my gosh. Today, finally, it's gorgeous. So it's nice. It's sunny, mild, and it's going to be warm all this week. The-

Lauri Wakefield [00:26:47]:
Temperature wise, like, seventies maybe?

Anna Maria DiDio [00:26:50]:
Yeah. So sixties, low seventies.

Lauri Wakefield [00:26:52]:
Yeah. I'm down in Florida, and, oh my gosh, it has been hot. No. Well yeah. But, actually it cooled off over the weekend. My daughter got married on Saturday.

Anna Maria DiDio [00:27:01]:
Oh, congratulations.

Lauri Wakefield [00:27:02]:
Thank you. And I it was a beautiful day. It was, I think, a high, maybe of 75. Yeah. It was on a lake and yeah. Very nice. Very nice.

Anna Maria DiDio [00:27:12]:
Yeah. Like, weddings are always fun. Like, the older one is married. So yeah.

Lauri Wakefield [00:27:16]:
Any grandkids yet?

Anna Maria DiDio [00:27:19]:
No, not yet.

Lauri Wakefield [00:27:20]:
One of these days. Right?

Anna Maria DiDio [00:27:22]:
Days. Yes.

Lauri Wakefield [00:27:22]:
Yeah. Okay. The resources, not the resources, but your website and the books that you mentioned, I'll include a link to both of those. Do you want me to include your LinkedIn profile or no?

Anna Maria DiDio [00:27:34]:
Oh, that'd be great.

Lauri Wakefield [00:27:36]:
Yeah. Okay. Alright. I'll do that. So unless you had anything else to add, I think we can-

Anna Maria DiDio [00:27:40]:
No. I just thank you for your insight. 

Lauri Wakefield [00:27:42]:
You're welcome. Let's say, like, all the guests that I have, I always try to find out as much as I can about them and just because I people fascinate me. And it's like everybody has their own stories in life, and it's just, I'm just, even when I was a kid, I was like that. I remember this is really funny, but I had my dad, he had this friend from high school, and his name was Palmer Lee. And he was, like, he was tall, maybe about six one, six two. Really quiet, dark hair glasses. He was, he'd been a bachelor for years. And, anyway, like, my dad was really loud and just, like, very different people. And I was, I was curious about everybody, but, like, him and I was like, Palmer. I had to call, we had a call them by Mister Lee. But I would just ask him questions, and he was funny because, like, he would look at me, and I think he was amused by the fact that I had the nerve to ask him the questions I asked him. And it wasn't to be disrespectful or anything. I was just curious, because I would watch him, and it's like, why isn't he married?

Anna Maria DiDio [00:28:39]:
Oh, that's so funny.

Lauri Wakefield [00:28:40]:
Yeah. I was probably, maybe nine or 10 years old. 

Anna Maria DiDio [00:28:44]:
That that makes for a great interview. So Yeah. That's cool. And I love the I love the title of your podcast. It's fantastic.

Lauri Wakefield [00:28:51]:
Thank you. So, anyway, that's gonna wrap things up for this episode. Thanks so much for joining me today. If you'd like more information about Anna Maria, she already gave the, I'll repeat it again. You can visit our website at amdidio.com, and I'll link to that in the show notes. And then I'm also gonna link to the, I guess, I'll link to the author page that lists the books that you've written. Okay.

Anna Maria DiDio [00:29:16]:
That'd be great.

Lauri Wakefield [00:29:17]:
And then I'll include the LinkedIn profile, like I said. So if you'd like to see the show notes for today's podcast, you can find them on my website at inspiredlivingforwomen.com. The show notes will be listed under podcast show notes episode 18. If you'd like to join me as I continue my conversations with other guests exploring topics with women 40, please be sure to subscribe to the Inspired Living for Women podcast. Thanks again, and have a great day.

Anna Maria DiDio [00:29:40]:
Thank you so much.

Lauri Wakefield [00:29:41]:
You're welcome.