This podcast is my family's story, the story of my family's relentless search for my oldest sister, Cleo. With seven children in total, the children of Lillian Semaganis became seperated in the early 1970s to become wards of the Province of Saskatchewan, and adopted through Canada and the United States as part of the Sixties Scoop. Released in March 2018, the podcast has had around thirty million downloads and counting worldwide, not including use on the CBC Educational platform, Curio.
This is amazing and surreal to me. When I did the podcast, I used my adoptive name of Christine Cameron. In the years since, it has just made more sense and made me more real and given me much more peace to return to my birth name, my biological name, Crystal Semaganis. I use this name socially and now that I am free from shame and wearing my trauma like a punishment I deserved.
With the release of the podcast and the outpouring of connections, messages, and support from over the world, I am grateful for the peace that comes with this. Finding Cleo is a journey with an unexpected outcome, and the sharing of our trauma, loss and relentless pursuit of Love has resonated with so many people - and lightened the burden we have carried for so many decades. The Intergenerational Trauma we speak of is real, and the framework of our trauma can be replicated hundreds of times in indigenous communities across Canada, Australia and worldwide where indigenous people have been exploited and displaced.
I am grateful for the podcast, because it changed our lives and introduced us to the world of Love, Peace and Closure. It brought people into our lives that not only helped us answer questions, but also provided connections that we did not know were missing. The journalist Connie Walker is a special lady, to not only believe the decades long, RepeatedAHundredTime story of a family lost and scattered in the wind, but because she told our story with such grace and kindness. Her storytelling, together with the resilience of Cleo and we her siblings, combined into a sacred story that open hearts heard and it touched them.
When we pursue Truth, we must offer Truth. What comes around, goes around. We offered Truth in our search, as much as we could find, and were ready to receive Truth as the Creator saw fit to share with us. So many powerful and sacred things happened in this podcast, I am happy to share stories and experiences that are miraculous and humbling.
In this time of Transition, I am writing a book that will be published in the fall of 2022. Should you like a copy of it, hit the email button at the top of this screen.
In closing, please give it a listen if you haven't already. It is available on all podcast apps, and is ten episodes in length with each episode ranging from thirty minutes to an hour. There is hope there, and it really was an incredible experience. Make sure you listen to the very last two minutes of Episode Ten, not many do. They hear the credits and assume it's the end.
I found my voice.
Now, I am a Story Teller, too.
Crystal Semaganis AKA Christine Cameron