This is our everyday

“Is she from China or Japan?”

That was the question I heard a boy ask Ashlyn this morning as waited for the school doors to open.

“She’s from China.” That’s all she said. No bells and whistles, just a simple answer for what she sees as something quite simple. She’s her sister. She was adopted from China. And, yes, she’s a monkey. That’s pretty much how Ashlyn sees it.

I guest posted today over on Shawn Smucker’s blog about a conversation I had with Ashlyn on Wednesday morning in the same place we stood today. I have a feeling those 10 minutes everyday standing outside Barkley School this year will become moments I remember. Maybe she will too.

From Wednesday….

Just another morning. We were leaning against the warm brick wall of the school, feeling the morning sun on our legs. Kids were filing into the school yard and filling the blacktop with color and conversation as we waited for the doors to open and another day of school to start.

Lydia poked at a dead bug on the ground with a stick, drawing lots of attention from curious kids who gathered around her and bent down to see the ickyness. We smiled while we watched her enjoy the bug and all the reactions of the big kids.

“Everybody in my class loves Lydia,” Ashlyn told me.

“Yeah, big kids usually like little kids like that,” I said, picturing many class parties we had been to with kids all fighting to get close to Lydia.

“They ask me a lot of questions about her.”

“They do? Like what?”

“Mostly questions about China.”

“Yeah? What kinds of questions?”

“Like what a orphanage is like, if there are any other orphans in China….”

“Hmm. Do you tell them there are millions of orphans in China?”

“Yeah.” She said quietly. “Why aren’t there orphanages here?”

“You know, babe. We don’t have orphanages here for kids really anymore. We have foster care where kids who don’t have parents or kids who need homes live with families and then some get adopted. You know, like your cousin. He was adopted from foster care.”

“He was?”

“Yeah, remember? He doesn’t look different, and he was born right around here. But, he was adopted.”

“Oh…cool.”

The doors opened. I got waves from all and a hug from one at least as they rushed to get in the doors. “Have a good day – I love you,” I called out to Ashlyn still in earshot.

“I love you too. Lydia, Lydia, bye, I love you!”

“Bye!” she yells as she breaks from her science lab on the blacktop. And, then I scooped her up and walked home. Just another morning.