This evening, Moses held my face in his hands, stared me in the eyes and said "Daddy, you're a cutie. I'm gonna plant you like a seed."—
Dustin Pattison (@dustinpattison) March 31, 2011
Monthly Archives: March 2011
…like a seed
baby sea turtles
Moses and I just finished watching some of BBC’s Planet Earth series – which, by the way, never ceases to amaze (and mesmerize) me. During one of the segments, Moses was especially captivated by the baby sea turtles. He perked up when they first arrived, newly hatched, on the screen, their adorable little flippers teetering across the beach’s sand. And when they made their fateful (and for many, fatal) journey into the violent ocean tide, he began to cry. A number of times after that segment was over, Moses would turn to me and tell me he loved and missed the sea turtles and tears would again well up in his eyes and he would bury his head in my chest.
Later, when getting into bed, he expressed again his love for those turtles and had the closest thing to an emotional breakdown I’ve ever seen him have. Granted the heightened emotions are surely in part due to the tiredness that is the result of a long and eventful day but it was still no doubt heart-felt and very touching. I suggested he try to fall asleep and dream of baby sea turtles. He nodded, thinking this was a good idea, laid down, and fell immediately to sleep.
O, if we could all have the simple compassion and love of a three-year old.
Maybe that’s what I’ll dream about. Good night.
solidawidy!
This morning, on our way to Moses’ school, he and I were excited to stop and join a local construction workers’ strike. We stood in the line and chanted with them: “Exploitation’s not the way! Give the workers better pay!” You’re never too young to learn solidarity. Now Wisconsin, you need any feisty 3-year-old revolutionaries?
remembering
I’ve been reading recently through the old blog posts that chronicled our adoption process. It’s amazing how many details I’d already forgotten. Maybe its my coping mechanisms at work, but I’d even started to forget just how challenging and frustrating and sorrowful the journey often was. Oh but what a precious story it is – ultimately one of love and hope and joy and miracles! And oh the wonderful people, both in Malawi and in the US, who were there, caring for us and rooting us on. I’m reminded that Moses’ middle name, Wetu, means Ours – as in he belongs not just to himself and not just to his parents but he belongs to the community. As I read these old posts, I am grateful for my beautiful, beautiful, beautiful boy and for the community to whom we belong.
Here are the posts if you’re interested:
http://littlebabymoses.blogspot.com/
