We were reading one of her favorite books the other night (Over the Moon by Karen Katz) and she pointed to the couple on the cover and said that that was a picture of her bio-parents. Then she brought home a picture she had drawn on a heart-shaped piece of paper at kindergarten. On one side it shows Anette and me and Adinah (as a tiny angel); on the other side is a picture of Adinah with her bio-folks. She confessed to Anette that she thought she didn't draw her first parents so good: "Schau (Look)! Their arms are coming out of their ears!"
Here's a front and back view of the picture.
I know I'm laying myself open for accusations of parental prejudice here, but holy shit, this seems like a phenomenal piece of poetry. Her Ethiopian family and us, together on paper, each the flip side of the same heart, all colors of the rainbow everywhere. The complexity and beauty of her story, and something almost untranslatable about international adoption in general, all said better than any book I've read or any sentence I've written.
This morning as I was on my way to work, Anette called to say that she's drawn another one since: a picture of a house with four doors, and standing in each one is Anette, myself, Adinah and...V.
7 comments:
Pat,
It's so amazing to read how Dini is understanding her world through images. The heart is both sides of her heart,really, and all the people she loves in it. And now a sister on the way....
ty
Pat, you don't have to post this comment (I wrote the last one if it came to you) but I hope you realize that you're writing your book on international adoption.
Tina
I like how she's an angel on your side (I always felt like my girls were angels in my life, saving me as much as I "saved" them) and a pink-and-orange haired burst of fun on theirs. Four parents, two Adinahs, one heart, one family. As I said before, amazing how easily they seem to stitch together this patchwork life we give them and make it whole, theirs.
Thanks, Tina and Elizabeth. I hadn't even thought about that interpretation of Adinah's angel, but yes, of course. She saves us all the time. And not just when she reminds me that I've left the chainsaw running....
Love the little girl art! What a special piece! I have a sketchbook in which I glued various art pieces from the kids. Some of my favorites are the ones the girls drew of the younger ones arriving in the family.
Of course, there was the time I was pregnant w/ the son, and my eldest, who was 4, went to the office with my Ex. He asked her to color quietly while he finished up a meeting. Someone asked what she was drawing. The daughter (loudly), "It's gonna be a baby. Here's the egg, and here's some sperms, and they hafta swim fast, 'cuz only one gets in!" Yeah. Good times. You just never know what they're going to say.
Anyway, I loved your daughter's way of seeing her family - those pictures are a treasure.
Don't little girls just rock in completely mysterious, wise-beyond-their-years ways?? I gave up a long time ago & admitted that my children will end up teaching me far more than I'll ever teach them.
If you want a lesson in zen wisdom... one that's both beautiful & heartbreaking... the best place to find it is through the wisdom of a child.
p.s. You really are a great writer. I'm sure you don't need the validation, but there you go.
Thanks a lot, B. Validation is always nice.
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