Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Brotherly Lurv

Trying...not.....to....cry.

They get it. The bonding has begun.

Our standing arrangement is that if the boys behave well all day, they get to play Rock Band with mommy and daddy before bed. Moise was good today. Logan however was quite disrespectful, mouthy and all together argumentative. After he completely ignored 4 separate requests I made of him after dinner tonight, Daddy made the decision that Logan would not be allowed to play. Then something spectacular happened. Moise, realizing he would not be playing with his brother and that his brother would miss out on the fun, interceded on his brother's behalf! That's right...INTERCEDED! He told Logan, "You must say you're sorry! Mean it!" Then Moise turned to Daddy and pleaded for a commutation of Logan's sentence. He insisted that Logan was sorry and would apologize."

It was beautiful. It was sincere. It was a moment. Much like the stirring moments earlier i the day...moments of change, so brief, so small but so significant. They have become brothers.

A Moment in History

Sitting down in front of the computer, explaining what Inauguration Day represented, what it meant and why this particular one is so very important, I didn't expect the tears that came. The more I told my natural born son and my Haitian son, who has just become a citizen of this wonderful country, about the great importance of this moment, the more choked up I became. To realize that for hundreds of years, black people of all nationalities have been disrespected, mistreated, made to live in a manner less than worthy....to witness this moment when equality has truly come. When a black man, has risen above, to now sit in the highest office in the land....That stirs emotions. It doesn't matter if you agree with his politics, or even if you personally like him. That one fact, the historicity of it all, is enough. As a mother now of black children, immigrated and now citizens, it is powerful. We watched the inauguration together, and though I doubt that either of them really "got" it, they will. Soon they will understand. Soon they will know that they lived in a time of change. They witnessed a historical turning point in our nation - one that will hopefully, prayerfully, bring about change for the good.