Meeting other families
May. 6th | Posted by Nicky
3 comments
Yesterday I travelled to Edmonton and met several other families who are or have adopted from Ethiopia. It was definitely worth the drive… Oh, the Ethiopian kids are SO cute. I mean, REALLY CUTE. There were a couple of 2 year olds, a handful of three year olds, a seven year old boy… a well as a few Canadian born kids.
As I said to Jrock on our long telephone conversation as I was driving home, (he was on call and couldn’t go,) what really struck me were two things:
First, in our family and circle of friends, we’re the only ones adopting and certainly the only ones adopting from Ethiopia. So it’s unusual. Curious. But with that group of families, it’s normal. Everybody understands automatically why you have made that decision. You aren’t weird at all. And the whole group of people – although all different personalities – seemed really nice.
The second thing that struck me, was that here are all these families with normal parent / child relationships. “For the seventh time, you may NOT go out onto the street!” Parents half paying attention to their kids’ insistent requests and trying to carry on an adult conversation while still nodding at what their child is saying. A little girl colouring on her mom’s lap to pass the time. Just all those everyday things. I was sitting at a table with a mom who has had her daughter home for 2 weeks, and her daughter was so loving and comfortable with her. It was really comforting and relaxing, really, to see how our family will be just like everyone else’s family… (with just a little twist.) I guess I got a flash-forward of our own lives and it was really something to look forward to.
I called my mom too, after the supper. She’s planning on joining us on the May long weekend for lunch with some other families in Calgary, and she was quite disapointed when I said that I didn’t think there would be any kids there. 
I’ll see if I can do some “families with kids home” recruiting beforehand… just to make my mom happy. (Oh, heck, who am I kidding. It made my week to see those kids last night!)
Selam, Nicky
It was a good time wasn’t it. I know what you mean by, this is just normal for us. It was great getting to know you a little bit.
Debbie
It sounds like you had a lovely time! I am so happy that you got to meet up with some of the other Ethiopian-connected families and are feeling some connection and anticipation about your family-to-come. It sounds like a very positive experience.
I hope we will become connected to the Ethiopian-adopting community here in Ontario. They seem to be a bit scattered, but who knows what will happen when we get more into the process!
It sounds like you had a great experience. I’m so glad you’re getting to know other families in a similar situation. I just hope you know that for most of your family, there are no explanations needed. We all understand and totally support what you are doing. Remember- you may be the only ones adopting, but you’re also the only ones at the point in your life where you are ready and wanting to start a family. I think that, more than anything, is perhaps why you feel a little “apart” from the group…don’t worry, most of the family will catch up with you one day (you are the eldest in this generation, remember.) I just wanted you to know that THIS part of the family, though far away, is really excited about you and Jrock adopting, and we all can’t wait to meet our new family members!