Dinner with Friends

Saturday we had The Waters and "The Tall Frys and Small Frys" over for playing, chatting, and Chili. We get together with the Waters on a regular (at least monthly) basis, but this time the 'Tall & Small Frys' joined us-- driving 2.5 hours each way just to hang with us. Families like ours are often willing to go way out of our way to find similar families to spend time with. The reasons seem obvious: the comraderie of being with families that 'look' like us (that even remotely slightly resemble us), that have had some similar experiences, who know some of the same joys and challenges, etc., cannot be over-exagerated. And, simply, we want our kids to be able to know other kids with life stories somewhat similar to their own. In their day-to-day lives at school and on the playground, etc. it just is not an every-day occurance to run into another kid who was born in Haiti, lived in a Haitian orphanage, was adopted by white American parents, transitioned to life in the U.S.A., etc., etc., etc. For Kyle and Owen these sorts of get-togethers are very important. It normalizes things for them. The power of that cannot be underestimated. Plus, what a fun way to spend a Saturday afternoon/evening!!! 11 kids -- 10 of them Haitian-American -- running around the yard, wheeling around the driveway, chowing down around the table... it doesn't get any better!