First of all, thank you for indulging me in my time off. The time grieving my sweet dog was helpful, along with being emotional about Kory’s birthday yesterday and having a busy few days getting ready for the events of today, it’s been a roller coaster week.

This morning our family attended the Bat Mitzvah of two girls and the Bar Mitzvah of their brother. It was a beautiful ceremony. Since we’re not Jewish, this was the first ceremony of this type that we attended and we were blown away by the commitment these young women and man put into their religious education.

That is only part of the wonder of this day. The family themselves are an example of unconditional love and love having no boundaries. Of all the adoptive families I know, I think this is the most diverse family I have ever met. Racially they are Caucasian, African American, Indian, and Russian. The majority of the family is Jewish, but that choice is up to the children. I have spent a fair amount of time with this family and the children are very independent. They honor their parents Jewish religion, but one girl who is newer to the family is choosing not to convert, but to continue with her Catholic upbringing. I admire her for her choice, and for her parents loving ability to allow her to do it.

The fact that these children are adopted was celebrated as part of the religious ceremony. The fact that they were chosen by their parents, did not have a good start to life, and have overcome adversity was openly acknowledged and celebrated. The Ina Hughes Prayer for Children was read during the ceremony and it was perfectly fitting for this family. If you are not familiar with the prayer, here is now it starts:

We pray for children
Who put chocolate fingers everywhere,
Who like to be tickled,
Who stomp in puddles and ruin their new pants,
Who sneak Popsicles before supper,
Who erase holes in math workbooks,
Who can never find their shoes.

And we pray for those
Who stare at photographers from behind barbed wire,
Who can't bound down the street in new sneakers,
Who never "counted potatoes,"
Who are born in places we wouldn't be caught dead in,
Who never go to the circus,
Who live in an X-rated world.

As I heard both of these parents address their three children today, the pride they had in their children was glowingly apparent. Even the children acknowledged their humble beginnings when they addressed their parents.

One of the beautiful things is that the Jewish tradition of Tzedakah, which is giving to others. These three young people will be working to earn money to fill backpacks with school supplies to give to other foster children who don’t have the necessary supplies. The family told a story as to why this was important and it was directly related to the past of one of the children.

Seeing this very diverse family celebrate together and have every single family member included was a beautiful sight. It was equally beautiful to see them acknowledge that rocky beginning and work to make changes for other children. I wish you all could have witnessed this wonderful event.

Kudos to my friend, Elaine, and her amazing family.

Photo credit – The cake I made for the party. Note the various family members around the cake, and the message on the cake.