We are officially not the coolest parents at school, well at least if you ask the parents. The kids? Well, they think we're AWESOME! We made cupcakes and frosted the Ethiopian flag on each to share at daycare yesterday in celebration of Ethiopian New Year, and according to Ashton's teachers the sugar bombs went over quite well with the kiddos. The remnant red, yellow, and green bits painted all over everyones clothing on the other hand was not quite as big a hit with the parents. Seriously - red, green, and yellow frosting EVERYWHERE.Dinner at Awash was amazing and has solidified it's place as our favorite NYC Ethiopian restaurant. There was one particular moment during dinner when my spirits were lifted in just the right way. The owner of the restaurant commented to me, "You're so lucky". Yes, we are so lucky and I so needed to hear someone say that. Not because I didn't already know that we're lucky (duh) but because we've been the recipients of the opposite comment on an increasing scale lately and it's been frustrating. Just in the past few weeks I've heard everything from "hopefully one day he'll understand how lucky he is that you plucked him out of there" to "he's so lucky that you chose him" to several other variations on the same theme. Thankfully Ashton isn't yet old enough to understand these comments and therefor hasn't been made to feel like the charity case these types of comments automatically peg him to be. But someday he will, and probably sooner rather than later, and it scares me - a lot.
The restaurant owner probably had no idea how much her comment meant to me. Just a simple reminder that the majority of people do get it. Most do understand that the grieving process for Ashton over having lost so much is an ongoing process and will come in waves, sometimes really difficult ones, and is something that nobody is lucky to have to go through. There's no doubt that he is physically healthier here in NY, but his physical health came with a massive trade off. We're so lucky and so fortunate and so humbled to be his parents, I just hope that one day he understands how lucky we were that he plucked us out of the batch of dossiers, and how lucky we are that he chose us.
Yesterday was a very happy new year, Melkam Addis Amet!
7 comments:
another beautifully written post. when people say to me "you saved her"....I say "She saved me"...truly she did!
Glad you had a good night last night & i love the cupcakes!
I'm so glad the owner made that comment to you. It's maddening how often I hear it the other way around.
Your cupcakes were totally groovy.
stephanie
http://mubarek.wordpress.com/
Yes, I feel like we are the lucky ones, too. It is just the way it was meant to be. So - keep feeling lucky!
fabulously fab cupcakes! and i can't wait to be lucky like you!!! sorry we couldn't join you...next time for sure. have a great weekend.
I too am lucky. Lucky to have Ash come into our family and bless us with new customs, traditions and extended family. Blessed to have a great son and daughter in law who so freely share their all.
I too think the cupcakes are right on. Unlike you I bought one, $1.99, and said a prayer for us, for Ash and for peace in Ethiopia.
Mom C
Yeah for cupcakes.
Bravo!
And your cupcakes were adorable! Well done, well done.
Melkam Addis Amet (though I'm a few days late)!
And, we don't even have our children home yet, but we've heard things similar to what you've been hearing. Only my close friends, whom have been through the education (via my rantings), understand that this isn't something we want to hear.
We feel so ridiculously lucky to have the opportunity to raise them.
:)
Thanks for sharing your story. Now how about sharing some of that Ethiopian food?!
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