For much of his childhood, Norm Adshead associated courtrooms with difficult decisions. As a young boy growing up in Toronto, he appeared before judges while child welfare officials decided where he would live, at one point choosing between his two alcoholic parents. Later, he found himself back in court after getting into trouble as a teenager. This spring, however, the 74-year-old walked into a Nova Scotia courtroom for a very different reason. He left as the legally adopted son of 85-year-old Truro resident Betty Vidito, who says she has considered him family for more than six decades. “I always felt like he was my child,” Vidito said. “I would have loved to have made it legal way back then, but I just wasn’t in a position to do that. I’m glad it’s happened now.” Adshead first met Vidito as a child while living in the same apartment building. His parents struggled with alcoholism, and he spent years moving between homes and foster care while searching for his siblings after they were separated. He said Vidito’s home became a place of stability. “Betty had been a cornerstone of mine,” Adshead said. “She was always there.” Although life eventually took them in different directions, Adshead later tracked Vidito down after reconnecting with his Indigenous roots and learning she had moved to Nova Scotia. Their relationship quickly resumed, with Adshead eventually asking if he could call her “Mum.” When Vidito later asked if she could officially adopt him, Adshead said the moment brought him peace. “It gives me a feeling of being loved,” he said. “Somebody cared enough. I just feel at peace with it.” Looking back on the adoption hearing, Adshead said the courtroom felt unlike any he had experienced before. “I never thought of the amount of times that I’d been in court,” he said. “When I was in the court being adopted, it wasn’t something that I had to be there for. I was asked to be there.” Vidito watched the hearing virtually because illness prevented her from attending in person. “I’m just so happy,” she said. “I feel like my whole family’s together.” The celebration also marked another milestone. Vidito, a Mohawk woman from Tyendinaga First Nation in Ontario, has been reconnecting with the culture she lost touch with after leaving the community as a teenager. Her daughter, Lorraine, has helped guide that journey. As part of the celebration, Adshead received the Mohawk name ‘Okwáho’, meaning Wolf – a tribute to the role he has played throughout his life tracking down siblings, keeping them connected and protecting the family he spent decades rebuilding. “I thought it was quite fitting,” Adshead said. “Here I am, 74 years of age, got myself adopted and got myself a new native name.” For Vidito, making the adoption official fulfilled a wish she had carried for years. For Adshead, it transformed a place once associated with hardship into one that symbolized belonging. “It just seemed like I was into a whole new world and family,” he said. For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
