Unconditional Love: Worth a Listen

If you haven’t listened to “This American Life,” the weekly National Public Radio show that examines and illuminates various aspects of our lives and culture, you’re really missing out. The good news is, all the shows can be streamed for free on their website. They’ve been around since 1995, so if you do a search on a topic that interests you, there’s a good chance you’ll find a fascinating hour-long show that touches on the subject.

The one I just listened to, called “Unconditional Love,” deals with the relationship between parents and their children. The two main acts are touching, heartbreaking and, ultimately, uplifting, true stories of parents and children dealing with circumstances that make my struggles seem insignificant. The first centers on the adoptive parents of a boy who, until the age of seven, was raised in a Romanian orphanage devoid of any meaningful human contact, and their struggle with his attachment disorder and its violent manifestations. The second deals with the parents of a severely autistic child and the decision they had to make about whether they could provide him with the care he needs.

Here’s the web page for the episode. You can listen to the free stream by clicking on the icon on that page.