(no subject)

[blue_lotus13]

I haven't been around much because I've been working on an article about intercultural adoption. There are about 20 families in GP who have adopted children of African or African-American descent. I interviewed two of the families this week, and it was such a powerful experience. One family saw their little boy's picture in an email and knew instantly he was their son. They had to go through a long process to adopt him from Liberia and when he arrived, he was incredibly ill. I went out to visit them on Tuesday, and got a chance to see Brendan interact with his four siblings (all biological children), and his mom.

Last night I drove out to visit another family who had adopted 2 children from New Orleans. One child was adopted when she was 8 days old and the other lived in a shelter during Hurricane Katrina until the family adopted him when he was 14 months. I spent almost 3 hours last night hanging out with the family and playing with the kids. The little girl really took a shine to me, and snuggled up to me on the couch. Both kids were quite hilarious and I kept on cracking up because of them.

The kids had been told that I was coming to see them, so they were waiting in the window when I arrived and started waving at me as I came up the driveway.

We brought the kids and their mom into the office today to do a photoshoot, which was a blast. The women who work in the subscription department couldn't stop grinning at the kids because they are so damn cute.

Doing this story has been such an amazing experience. The whole initiative was my own, and it's been such a rewarding process. I'm so thankful to the families who have shared their stories with me.

Comments

[monkeyhouse.livejournal.com]

what a neat opportunity for you!