Friday, April 13, 2007

Who's Your Daddy?

"Mom, is Daddy my Father?" That is what Cam asked me the other day. One of those funny kid things. I love this age! He really cracks me up with some of the things that he says. Like, "my eel hurts, Mom!" ....that would be his HEEL. Fun times, Man!

Well, we got our re-do life insurance letter and it is iffy at best. KBS Dossier service, who gets everything organized and authenticated by the State, is going to try and see if it goes through. Our life insurance people are awesome, but can't cross their "t's" at the right angle for the adoption process. So we are just waiting to see if it will be ok. It is the last stinkin' thing we need for the dossier and I am soooo ready to be in the Waiting for Referral stage. It is nice to move from one arena to the next in the whole process.

So, I read a book called "There is No Me Without You" in 2 nights flat. It is by Melissa Fay Greene. It is the true story of a woman in Ethiopia who, in the beginning, loses her daughter and her husband. Without reason to go on, she kinda wanders around aimlessly until one day a priest asks her to take in a child whose parents have died. Fast forward and she becomes the foster mother to hundreds of kids. IT IS AMAZING HOW ONE PERSON CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE! I cried my way through the book, because it is a beautiful and heartwrenching story that has completely put a face on the poverty, AIDS epidemic, and the fallout of it all. You know how you can see those infomercials(the ones we click past 'cause we don't want to cry and yes, we already know there is a problem, but you don't have to shove it in my face kind), and you feel bad, but it really is on a superficial level. Reading this book really made it all very......real. And I guess it hits closer to home now that I am going and bringing back one of their beautiful babies who could very well be the "fallout" of AIDS and poverty. I am anxious now to hear her story and debate over the years on how to present it all to her. How will she take it all? Will she want to go there (I truly hope so!) I really want her to be proud of where she is from and with books like this one, I am on my way to gathering information that will help her see how beautiful Ethiopia is, in spite of the devastation you may see on the outset.

Currently, I have decided that when the kids are all grown, I will go a few times a year for however long and work and help in the orphanages in Haiti(the other place where my heart is captive...Hello, Les Abricots!) and Ethiopia, provided we have the means. Dennis said "Thanks a lot, what am I supposed to do?" :) I know, I know, slow down, Rachel. Let's do one thing at a time....that would be Dennis's motto with me.

Anyway, I will be forcing this book down everyone's throat soon, so be ready with your rebuffs(to which I will completely ignore).

Peace Out!

1 comment:

KELLI BELLY said...

You sound a lot like myself! Africa calls my heart too. I always tell my husband I want to be doing something to make a difference. He says you can do something here. But I feel a calling from somewhere far :o) We will hopefully be starting our own adoption process from Ethiopia soon.