Lissa Schneckenburger is a singer, fiddler, composer, and activist based in Brattleboro. Thunder in my Arms was Lissa’s first release of all-original music, and a song-cycle about attachment, parenting, and developmental trauma – copies of which are donated to foster/adoptive families.
Corey DiMario is a double-bassist and proprietor of Patio Coffee in Brattleboro. Corey is a founding member of the string band Crooked Still, and has performed at major festivals and concert venues across North America, Europe and Australia.
Lissa and Corey are parents to Hunter, who was adopted as a toddler and is now 15 years old.
In this interview, we talk with Lissa and Corey about their brief consideration of private adoption, foster parent training, piecing together their child's personal history, the nature of memory, why babysitters and playdates can be tricky, and Lissa's policy advocacy work with Vermont Foster/Adoptive Family Alliance.