A Day In The Life.

The older Levi gets, the more flack he gets about his skin color and the fact that he's adopted by peers at school. He keeps much of it to himself but every so often he will let some of it slip out. And every time he does, it breaks my heart.

Yesterday was no exception. He was talking about an incident at school that involved 2 other boys. One is black, the other is bi-racial. Neither one is adopted. He has played football and basketball with both of these boys for years.

They were trash talking and one of them said, "You were adopted cause your parents hated you!"

I instantly thought of his beautiful birth parents and the amazing 2 days we spent with them in a downtown Miami hospital, in one of the scariest neighborhoods I have ever been in. I thought of the way they held him and talked to him and things they told him. So full of love and kindness. Wanting a life they could not provide for him, their gratitude to us for adopting him. I remember that day so clearly. More importantly, I still feel the love in my heart that they shared for their sweet son. There was not a doubt in my mind that they were placing him for adoption because of the love they had for him.

When Levi told us what the boys had said, I immediately said, "Levi, you know that's not true. Your birth parents loved you so much!" My voice caught on that last word as emotions flooded to the surface. All of those previous images had already raced through my mind and I knew that nothing was further from the truth. But it wasn't me I was worried about. I reminded him of the dvd we watched about a year ago. I had taken some of our old vhs tapes in and had them transferred over to dvd's. We had all sat down to watch one that was labeled "Camping" It turned out to be the video from the day we adopted Levi.

All the kids got quite a kick out of seeing it and I sat there and bawled my eyes out. Watching it with Levi, watching his face as he watched the video for the first time, wondering what he thought about those two "strangers" on the video. Wondering if he felt some sort of connection to them. Wondering if he would laugh at the funny jokes his birth father was cracking.

Anyway, I reminded him of that dvd and told him again, this time with tears that wouldn't stop flowing, just how much his birth parents loved him and that those two willy nilly boys at school didn't have a brain in their heads if that's the best they could come up with.

He laughed it off but I hope he remembers that the next time it happens. Because it will.

I know sometimes you get to read lots of stories about Levi and adoption on here but you have to remember he is our oldest child that joined our family through adoption. We get to experience many things with him first because of that.

Getting that little glimpse into his every day life reminded me just how many things our children go through each day. It's a tough world out there. Give them an extra hug today. And make sure they know how much you love them.