A day for History

A self portrait by Pipo...

No matter how you felt about this election, there is no denying we all witnessed a spectacular piece of history today.  And today, of all days, I was incredibly grateful to my son, for giving me such a very, very different take on the significance of this moment.

I drove Pipo to wrestling practice tonight, and we talked a bit about the inauguration, which he watched at school today. He really doesn't see it as a big deal. I talked to him about the fact that in Haiti, it was mostly people with brown skin, but that it is different here in the US... and it was very, very different years ago. He understands this somewhat, but the reality is, he arrived here at a time when we were heading towards change. What a time to become an American for a brown skinned little boy.

I have heard stories from many adoptive parents that their children went through a phase of wanting to be white like their new parents. They try to 'wash the brown off', or ask for a special lotion to make them white. We have had such a different experience in this area, and I am thankful for that. The only mention of it at all, is the one time Pipo told Fitz  that if he wanted to be "dark like me... you should spend more time in the sun."  He doesn't see the white skin as better... he is proud of his skin, proud of his heritage, proud of himself. I wouldn't want it any other way. I loved this self portrait that he brought home from school... with his dark skin, and outlining his dreadlocks. This boy is comfortable with himself, and I want to keep it that way.

And now he has even more reason to be comfortable in his skin. A new bar has been set... or better yet, the bar has been broken. My boy can be anything when he grows up, even the president. He can be anything.

My own favorite portrait of Pipo