For years, Tim Green seemed to be living the American dream. A handsome, intelligent honor student, he was also a strapping 6’2″, 250-pound All-American defensive end at Syracuse University, where he led the historically successful football program back to national prominence. On the strength of his stellar college football years, Tim became a coveted first-round draft choice of the Atlanta Falcons, going on to a sensational career in the NFL.
But appearances can be deceiving. There was a void that numerous academic accolades and the adoration of cheering fans could not fill. Though he was raised in a loving and supportive family, Tim, an adopted child, had always longed to find his biological mother. But it was not until the mother of an exgirlfriend confessed to him that she had given up a son—a son who would have been about Tim’s age—that the full weight of what it meant to be adopted came down on him. Tim acutely felt the need to locate his biological mother, to let her know that he was all right—that he was successful and happy. Empathizing with the feelings of loss and regret that a mother who had given up a child must feel, he sought not only to find answers to his own questions but to answer those of his biological mother—a woman who somewhere, sometimes, must have thought of the son she could not keep. Bolstered by the love and support of his adoptive parents, Tim embarked on an odyssey to discover the woman who had given him his life—and then left him before she could become a part of it.
A Man and His Mother is the extraordinary story of one man’s courageous search for the mother he never knew. Expertly written and filled with brilliant insights and heart-wrenching remembrances, as well as gentle humor, it is more than just a compelling look at what it means to be adopted. From Tim’s life as a gangly youngster to competing in the grueling National Football League to having children of his own, this is an impassioned exploration of the special relationship between a man and his mother, and how deeply this relationship affects everything we do in our lives.
