Book excerpt: Vonda Peterson has a secret. After becoming pregnant in her teens, Vonda hides her pregnancy from her parents and puts her child up for adoption. For the next forty years, she imagines what his life must be like and how hers would have been with him. Even after marrying and having two more children, she celebrates his birthday every year. She keeps this secret from her children until she can’t any longer. But will her family accept her truth? While we learn of Vonda’s life through the years, we also see the happy childhood and turbulent adolescence of Kelly with his unknown-to-him adoptive parents in Rhodesia. The story follows his many adventures from being “groomed by a gay man, groomed to hate and to kill by a country, groomed by a cult.” Kelly’s struggles lead him down numerous unimaginable paths that you can’t help but wonder: will he ever find where he truly belongs? Co-authored by mother and son, Hole in Our Hearts is a memoir about perseverance, belonging, and speaking truths. Their stories show how two seemingly separate lives are entwined, connected beyond time and geographical distance, and slowly propelling towards one another until they finally meet.