This is my favorite pers
on in the whole world, my grandson.
My two new grandchildren may be arriving any day now, and I'm dancing in anticipation! My kids are adopting little siblings from Ethiopia. This brother and sister were orphaned by cruel conditions in a remote, poverty stricken village, and have been residing in an, (also remote), orphanage. I have spent the past year thinking about the way people live in other parts of our world, by comparison to our own elite lifestyles. It will be a good and beautiful thing to raise these two wonderful children in America, where food and sanitation and transportation and medical care are available. They will have every opportunity to grow and be nourished and educated . . . . to be safe, and have freedoms never imagined by most of the children they will leave behind in the orphanage. The odds of them growing old in America will increase 400%-600% over their chances in Ethiopia. They will have dental care and college educations and drive cars and use rapid transit and serve jury duty and vote. They will be able to earn more in 40 years than their entire village has earned in 400 years. They will be blessed by the love of parents and grandparents and great grandparents, unlike children in their part of the world, most of whom lose their parents before they are old enough to remember them. The simple pleasures of a bath, clean clothing, warm bed and three nutritious meals a day will soon become commonplace to them. Learning to read will open new worlds of imagination and expectation, and owning their own crayons and paper will give them wings.
I was raised to thank God every day for His blessings, but this experience has heightened my sense of my personal expectations from life. Although I hail from immigrants who arrived with little and I was raised in a blue collar home, I have always had a roof over my head, food to eat, heat, a sense of security through the night, transportation, a job, clothing, utilities . . . . . all of the necessities. Yes, I have worked hard to afford them, as did my ancestors. The miracle is, that I was born in America, where there has always been the opportunity for me to work hard, earn a living and purchase what I needed. I am honored to welcome these little children to my family, and to share my love and my world with them.
Have I mentioned how proud I am of my daughter and son in law? Well, I am!
on in the whole world, my grandson.
My two new grandchildren may be arriving any day now, and I'm dancing in anticipation! My kids are adopting little siblings from Ethiopia. This brother and sister were orphaned by cruel conditions in a remote, poverty stricken village, and have been residing in an, (also remote), orphanage. I have spent the past year thinking about the way people live in other parts of our world, by comparison to our own elite lifestyles. It will be a good and beautiful thing to raise these two wonderful children in America, where food and sanitation and transportation and medical care are available. They will have every opportunity to grow and be nourished and educated . . . . to be safe, and have freedoms never imagined by most of the children they will leave behind in the orphanage. The odds of them growing old in America will increase 400%-600% over their chances in Ethiopia. They will have dental care and college educations and drive cars and use rapid transit and serve jury duty and vote. They will be able to earn more in 40 years than their entire village has earned in 400 years. They will be blessed by the love of parents and grandparents and great grandparents, unlike children in their part of the world, most of whom lose their parents before they are old enough to remember them. The simple pleasures of a bath, clean clothing, warm bed and three nutritious meals a day will soon become commonplace to them. Learning to read will open new worlds of imagination and expectation, and owning their own crayons and paper will give them wings.
I was raised to thank God every day for His blessings, but this experience has heightened my sense of my personal expectations from life. Although I hail from immigrants who arrived with little and I was raised in a blue collar home, I have always had a roof over my head, food to eat, heat, a sense of security through the night, transportation, a job, clothing, utilities . . . . . all of the necessities. Yes, I have worked hard to afford them, as did my ancestors. The miracle is, that I was born in America, where there has always been the opportunity for me to work hard, earn a living and purchase what I needed. I am honored to welcome these little children to my family, and to share my love and my world with them.
Have I mentioned how proud I am of my daughter and son in law? Well, I am!
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