Monday, January 21, 2013

Four Years Ago Today




Today as I watched the inauguration of President Obama, (on the exact day we celebrate MLK!), I am reminded of this same ceremony four years ago. At that time, while feeling the magic of history unfolding, I penned the following words to my unborn biracial child:

Tuesday, January 20th, 2009
As I write this you have not even been conceived, although I am hoping and praying it will be soon. I am watching the inauguration of Barak Obama and I am filled with such excitement for your future. History is unfolding in a huge way and the implications for you and other children of color around the world are profound. You will never know a world in which only white men ruled this great country. You will be born into a new era-- one filled with hope and the promise of a new day. I have wanted you for so long and have cried many tears during the long wait. But I can now see, this is the year of your arrival.

Well, I was wrong about that last line. I shed many more tears in the twenty three long months between writing the above letter and our child's arrival. As you may know, our precious baby girl came to us via the miracle of adoption in the last month of 2010. 

This year I watched the inauguration ceremony after I put her to bed. (Unfortunately, I was watching Yo Gabba Gabba during the live television coverage.) Typing my 2009 words into this blog post reminded me of the excitement, the national pride, and the severe longing I was then feeling. It makes my chest feel tight and almost brings me to tears. But it doesn't. Because in the next room, my beautiful little mocha latte girl is now sleeping. I look forward to teaching her about President Obama and Martin Luther King, Jr. I also look forward to sharing this letter with her. But most of all, I look forward to telling her how much she was loved and longed for, years before she was even conceived.


Dreams can come true.

Saturday, January 12, 2013

Readers, Set Your DVRs....


Hey, remember when I told you about my Oprah experience and how my BFF and I saw a taping of Oprah's LifeClass with Rick Warren? Well, it's airing on Sunday, January 13th at 9est/8c on OWN.  


Click HERE for my summary of the Rick Warren episode. It's a good one, but really all of the LifeClass shows inspire me to dream bigger and reach higher.

If you do get to watch this episode, you just might see me. I was in the front row (stage right), in the green dress, with the long brown hair, jumping up and down and waving and screaming and looking extremely enthusiastic. I'm a bit nervous (but excited) to see if my ebullient jumping bean self made it onto the small screen. And I can't wait to relive my day with Oprah.

Let me know your thoughts if you get a chance to watch it!

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