This summer should be exciting for Sarah Simison, not only because it’s the Festival of Words’ 25th year, but also because it’s the first summer with her recently adopted son.
Simison and husband Chad Humphreys welcomed Huxton into their lives on Oct. 30, 2020, after beginning their odyssey through the adoption system a decade earlier after several years of unsuccessful fertility treatments.
“It’s been a very long journey,” the festival’s executive director said on July 5 after returning from an eight-month maternity leave.
Going through the process was emotional since it was a long wait, Simison continued. Every year, the couple emailed their adoption worker hoping to hear good news but didn’t learn much since the worker couldn’t tell them where on the waiting list they stood. This forced them to constantly re-assess their lives and whether they should keep their names in the queue.
They eventually set a deadline of November 2020 before they would withdraw from the process. However, they learned in September that they would receive a boy and started meeting him and his foster family over several weeks until finally welcoming him into their home.
“I really struggled with talking to other prospective adoptive parents because our wait was so long. What we were told is that our file was sort of mismanaged by a social worker, and (then) everything got centralized in Regina,” said Simison.
The Regina office realized the couple had been waiting a long time and reached out to them. The couple then resubmitted paperwork to clear up the issue.
Simison pointed out that their case slipped through the cracks for some reason, which is not usual in most situations. However, she commended the social workers who worked with them since the couple’s experience was usually positive.
The couple thought about giving up their adoption quest, as both turned 42 this year and wondered if they were too old to be parents.
“Infertility treatment is a really hard thing for couples to go through and it’s a really heart-breaking process. Sometimes you wonder how much more you can take emotionally,” said Simison. “There were a lot of times where I was trying to wrap my head around, ‘OK, it’s just not gonna happen for me. I’m just not going to be a mom; I’m not going to have kids.’ And you just try to accept that.”
Huxton turned two in March and is an incredible little boy who is smart, funny, happy, and an absolute joy to be around, she continued. The youngster enjoys being outside and playing in the water, while he also likes getting dirty and riding the tractor on the farm that Simison and Humphreys own.
“It’s just been great watching him … be a kid and explore. We’re taking a lot of joy in just watching a little person discover the world. It’s really fun to be a part of that,” she laughed.
Festival of Words
Simison is excited for this year’s Festival of Words — which occurs from July 15 to 18 — and the lineup of performers. This is her 11th year with the organization, but she had to defer most of the planning to a co-worker while on parental leave.
“They’ve done a fantastic job. Amanda (Farnel, operations manager) has been running a tight ship while I was away and she’s kind of had to revamp the festival … ,” chuckled Simison. “She’s essentially had to plan four festivals this year, as the COVID situation changed, and we had to evolve around with it.”
The festival is using a hybrid approach this year — just as it did last year — with some content produced strictly online, some live-streamed into the Mae Wilson Theatre, and some live in-person events in the theatre.
Simison loves the hybrid approach, while she and her team have become better adept at using new technology and adopting new ideas that can support the tech uptake. The executive director pointed out that many people are experiencing “Zoom fatigue,” so the organization is looking at different approaches to online presentations.
While the festival will always have an in-person component, the virtual aspect will likely become permanent. This has allowed people from remote Canadian communities and countries such as Pakistan to register and take part.
“People who attended last year will like this year … ,” Simison added.
