Nope. I'm not stopping at 100. I'm only stopping when no one else wants to contribute. So until then, we're still going....This is a very special story and piece of fabric. This came from my cousin and his wife, David and Bec, of Columbus, Ohio. Their two sons, Willem and Spencer, were adopted from Guatemala. The fabric was given to them by one of their son's foster mothers in Guatemala. They wanted to send this very meaningful piece of fabric as a way to share our children's heritage and cultures. Several of the cousins in my generation have contributed to the diversity of our family through adoption. We have children that came to us through Guatemala, Korea, soon China and even domestic adoption from the good ole' USA. I think it's truly amazing to have one family who's been touched so many times through the wonderful joy of adoption.
Bec included a great story by Kathryn Creedy that was published in the Washington Post in 1998 called "The Velveteen Mother". I wish I could repeat it here but it's 3 pages long. The summary of it is that she is a single woman who adopted 2 beautiful daughters and she is defining what it means to be a "real" parent. That is some of the misguided terminology that all adoptive parents have heard at one time or another. The story really touched me because it is so similar to my own thoughts and my own path to motherhood. Here's just a part.....
"What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day. "Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."
Real is also when you get lucky enough to have a child to love.
~ The Velveteen Mother
I really love this story. Thanks Bec! And David, Willem, and Spencer, too!
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