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Thursday, June 23, 2005

“We are a Family”

One of the things I’m proud of is to share three vowels and two consonants with someone as amazing as Aaron at aanthems.com. His blog entries are honest, painful, humorous and inspiring — often at the same time.

In his own words, here’s what makes him proud:

I’m proud that it’s almost July 1st. That’s the day the county placed Jeremiah, our four-year old son, with us. It’s the day he found his way to us, his forever-home.

I’m proud of all that he’s accomplished in one short year. When he arrived, he wasn’t potty-trained, couldn’t ask for help, didn’t know his numbers, letters, or colors. He couldn’t name emotions and could barely feed and dress himself. Today, he’s picking out his own clothes, putting them on, and helping decide dinner. He’s obsessively interested in Star Wars, will hand you Darth Vader’s light saber, declare himself Luke, challenge you to reenact their final duel, and correct you when you get the dialogue wrong or improvise. He knows the Force, the Dark Side, and that people can be good, then turn bad, and turn back to good again depending upon who they choose to be friends with. And he’s learned it all from books, not the movies. He’s surpassed his preschool classmates in colors, numbers and letters and is beginning to sound out words. And, yes, he’s been potty trained for eleven of the past twelve months.

I’m proud to be his Daddo, Keith is proud to be his Daddy, and we’re proud to live in a country where, hopefully, one day, it won’t feel like an act of revolution to us and be perceived as an attack by others to simply say, “We are a family.”

Posted by Aaron on June 23, 2005 4:23 PM