The Home: A Memoir of Growing Up in an Orphanage

Richard McKenzie's presentation of his experience being reared in an orphange is certainly on point. His represents the early life travels of many children in need of a home in the first half century of our country. The lifetime benefits he received as a student resident of the Home are invaluable to his successes achieved in his professional endeavors. As so many of his contemporaries reared in an orphanage demonstrate, they are proven, productive and responsible members of their respective communities. I share in McKenzie's deep feelings for his Home and the wonderful memories he expresses in tales some tall but all true; for I should know, I was there too!

Some will see this book as an unlikely one to have been written by an economist. Economists are thought of as people who see things in analytical ways, detached from emotion, and McKenzie is a very good economist. Yet reading his book, The Home (the second edition), will be an emotional experience, with highs and lows found in equal measure. It is a very personal story that comes straight from the heart and which everyone who has made the transition from child to adult will relate to in his or her own way. But as an economist myself, I can see the influence of economics in this book, though it in no way distracts from the emotional impact of the narrative. Economists tend to be rather immune to flights of fantasy about how the world should be. They recognize that the world is full of unpleasant choices, with it necessary to compare imperfect alternatives with every decision we make. McKenzie's story points to the some of the advantages he realized from being raised in an orphanage in the 1950s. But he doesn't whitewash his experience by concentrating on just the good--just read the first chapter. He recognizes that in an ideal world there would have been better alternatives, such as an intact and loving family, but that those better alternatives were not available to him. And so while recognizing the hardships and limitations he faced as a child growing up in an orphanage, McKenzie is able to tell as story of gratitude for the sense of place and permanence he was given by the orphanage and for those who, with love and devotion, made it seem like more like a home than he had experienced before. McKenzie's story, despite its realism, is a story that will inspire readers from a wide range of backgrounds. Finally, for those who have read the first edition of The Home, this edition includes an epilogue that brings us up to date with McKenzie's childhood friends.

I thought this was overall an excellent book. Early in the book he makes a compelling point. He speaks of the relief of leaving his family behind and no longer having to pretend to care. I believe this is exactly the issue with foster care. I don't know what planet everybody is on but I believe the idea of forcing a child into an existing family situation where they will always be an outsider in order to "learn" how to be in a family is mistaken. Of course I'm sure there are many children who have had positive experiences in that setting, it just depends on the child and no one should be placed based on current political winds. I agree he appears to have a bit of a conservative political agenda, but so be it. He makes no bones about the fact that he could have used more adult closeness and hugs and other shortcomings of the place. At the end of the book he describes a (to me) sort of bittersweet reunion at the Home. Wonderful to be with several hundred people with whom you share the bond of being from the Home but sad that none of the administrators or children were part of the reunion. Since the Home is only a short term placement facility now, eventually there won't be any more reunions. I believe his description of the gratitude that almost everyone felt towards the Home is accurate for many former residents of such facilities.

This book, written by an orphan, contributes a first person voice to the conversation on child welfare. A reunion of orphanage alumni convinced the author to write about his own orphanage upbringing. The permanence of "The Home" and knowing that he would not be sent away helped him develop a sense of place and of belonging. The alumni agreed that this was seminal to their well being. The author's upbringing in this Presbyterian orphanage is testament to the healing power of a constructive rural life. The children learned to care for themselves and each other by raising their own food (crops and animals) and maintaining the farm equipment and the buildings. They went to school and church on the property until they entered high school. The administrative leadership was strong, moral and fair. His story is not a nostalgic rendition of the experience. It is a very objective assessment of the benefits he received from growing up on this particular 1500 acre farm orphanage.

This review is in response to the Booklist one above. In The Home, McKenzie makes a case in favor of orphanages as opposed to foster homes based on his own experiences. He points out that The Home is his story and was not intended to speak for all orphans. This book shows how people have choices in life - they can choose to use what they are dealt for them or against them. The stories that McKenzie relates illustrate how he learned valuable life lessons during his childhood, which ultimately contributed to his present success. Although some of the stories in the book made me cry, I thorougly enjoyed reading it. I feel like The Home gives readers a peek into McKenzie's soul. Truly inspirational, very interesting, and it makes you re-evaluate your own childhood!