We attended Omaha's annual Holt dinner and auction this past Saturday. It was a blast, as usual, and was so happy that we were able to attend this year after missing it last year. All three of my kids were able to attend with us this year, their first Omaha event, but they have attended the event in Eugene. Seems a little out of order. Anyway, we had fun, bid on quite a lot of items, both in the silent auction and the live auction. Everytime my kids would tell me what they were bidding on, I kept telling them to slow down and their response, "But it's FOR THE THE CHILDREN!" Okay, they got me on that one, so I let 'em run free!
My youngest daughter, adopted from Korea, has church requirements to attend four Lenten Services for confirmation. Very hard when she has cheerleading on Wednesdays also. So I asked if my daughter could make up for the 4th service by writing about her experience attending the auction.
My daughter wrote about bidding on items and winning them, the dessert dash, and so on and that she had fun. I asked her why is it that we attend this event? She looked at me with a blank look. No response. I thought to myself, 'really? Isn't it obvious? Still no response from her. After all of my volunteering and traveling to Korea, you would think it was obvious, but to her, it really wasn't. I told her we are a Holt family. We are grateful for our family and therefore, we give back to Holt.
So does that mean my daughter doesn't notice the difference between herself and her siblings and the kids around her? I was kind of shocked that she didn't see this. I thought for sure she would know why we do the things we do for Holt. But she just sees herself as any other kid in any other family. How refreshing. I always talk about being labeled in life and here I was, keeping the label of Holt on myself and her. She sees us as a FAMILY having a fun night out together, nothing more, nothing less.
Yes, I am a Holt adoptee, but that alone does not define me. I have to thank my daughter for reminding me of this.
3 comments:
I loved this post!
I love this!! I, too, am forever grateful for the role that Holt has played in our lives, but my favorite moments are when I "forget"... and we are simply a family.
Bless your little Kora's heart!!
Good for her! As with Nikki's comments about Kelsey being a princess, sometimes the kids' perspective IS refreshing!
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