A different kind of hero

Last night, the boys were all downstairs watching Around the World in 80 Days, with Jackie Chan. I could hear them all down there laughing hysterically, and taking a peek, saw them literally rolling on the floor. A great sight to see with 4 brothers anyway, but it got me thinking.

Jackie Chan has really had an impact on our lives in the last two years, in a funny way. When Pipo arrived, he was hospitalized immediately, and he and I spent a week in there. He knew no English at all, and my Kreyol was just coming along. The one thing that kept us going was the hospitals huge video library. After watching Spiderman 18 times in a row, I knew I had to find something different. I asked Pipo if he liked anything else, and this is when I discovered one of the few things he could tell me with clear pronunciation, that I understood. "Jackie Chan". I quickly ran off to scour the titles, and came back with every Chan movie they had. For the first time, I saw my terrified, sick new son smile. And then laugh. If Mr. Chan was there at that moment I would have kissed him.

Then came the settling in at home. Kids don't need language... they seem to connect wordlessly and play together immediately. But for the long haul it helps to find some common ground. And that is where Jackie Chan came in. Not all of my kids are into the action/adventure/superhero movies, and the few that they've seen they don't like to watch over and over. But when Pipo introduced them to Jackie Chan, they discovered that they all loved him. Especially the boys.

And I will tell you, there is no better joy then seeing all your sons piled together on one couch laughing hysterically. Then laughing even more long after the movie has ended... acting out favorite scenes just to make eachother laugh again. So Mr. Chan... if you are out there, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.