"PRODIGAL CHILDREN" C 1992 - AN AMAZING FAMILY STORY!
We are looking for videographers, screen writers or others to make a movie of our family's journey from addictions and catastrophic illness to making a positive contribution. Please email us at joyoflearningcenter@juno.com if you'd like to support this project. We believe it will give hope and healing for other families going through similar difficulties.
Marika, the Founder of THE JOY OF LEARNING CENTER, experienced a shattering nervous breakdown in 1972. She lost all of her children and spent 17 years piecing her life back together. During this time, the world reached out to her and gave her free or low cost wholistic treatments which were a big part of her healing. Now she is giving back what she received!
Her three daughters were so traumatized by this, they all became street kids, addicted to drugs and living "on the edge".
In 1984, a miracle happened: Marika married, changed her name to her husband's name and moved from her parent's Seattle home when they retired. On her birthday, the phone rang. "Hi, Mom!" Her eldest daughter, N'Tanya, had her parents' phone number - which Marika took with her when she moved - on a tattered piece of paper! She came home to live with Marika and her new husband. She now lives in San Francisco, and has created this entire website! |
 HERE IS A PHOTO OF RECENT FAMILY RE-UNION
How did our family tree turn into a family forest? Now it includes not only all the families who adopted Marika's children, but also four families who have adopted N'Tanya's four children! These are open adoptions, and N'Tanya has been able to visit with her children as they grow up.
Marika had given up the twins, Aurora and Geneva, for adoption when she could not take care of them. She started searching for them when they turned eighteen - permissable by law after a closed adoption. All the time since their adoption, Marika believed they were in a good, stable home. She was shocked, when she contacted the adoptive mother, to learn that Aurora and Geneva had run away from home when they were 14, and were living in the streets of San Francisco!
Marika jumped on a plane, resolving to stay in San Francisco until she located her daughters - and found them in less than 24 hours! They also moved home to live with Marika's family, which by then included her mother who needed care. And now, Aurora and Geneva both live in a spiritual community where they picked up the threads of the life we were living when our family broke up. They are gardening, raising children, goats and cows, and living a simple, earthy life.
Her son fared better, remaining with his adoptive mother until he graduated from high school and re-connected with Marika. He kept his birth name, Charan Pagan, for his career as a heavy metal musician. He now works for a law firm in Southern California.
This story would make a wonderful movie, and we know that other families will be inspired by it.
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