We just had a visit with Sprout and Sunny’s family. It’s a two hour drive to Mama’s house, which the girls complain is the most boring thing ever, but when we get there it’s all worth it.
Today, not only was their Mama there and their other three siblings, but also an uncle and two aunts and all their kids. The cousins all had raucous fun playing zombies and hide and seek and a made up game called “the grinch” which involved people getting put on the naughty list and set in time out. They romped, they tussled, they shrieked with delighted laughter. They played with nerf guns, and a giant cardboard box became a sailing ship and a bus and a caboose in turns.
It was an absolute, heart wrenching joy to watch.
The kids are all good kids. The big kids were kind to the little ones and careful with them. No one was excluded. Everyone participated. And it was pure childhood delight echoing off the walls.
It was also lovely to get to know Mama’s siblings better. We’d met them before, but this was the most we’d talked with them. There’s a language barrier – only one sibling speaks English so he and the kids had to translate, but we muddled through and understood each other in the end.
At one point, I was sitting there on the floor with a belly full of delicious spicy Burmese food and more around me. Mama was wearing western clothing today, but the aunts were wearing hijabs in deep tones of gold. I heard rapid Burmese translating something we’d just said. My legs were falling asleep sitting on the floor. The kids were laughing, the adults were smiling and laughing, and I almost had a bit of an out of body experience. I could see myself sitting there on the pretty braided mat on the floor, gold and red, and surrounded by welcoming people who have every right to resent us for having their daughters in our home. What an incredible thing to be honored with: a true glimpse into another culture, another family.
I feel like these monthly visits that involve long days of driving are not going to feel like a burden. After all, we’ve likely got to do them for the next 14 years while Sprout grows up. They’re going to consume a day out of each month in its entirety. But you know what? They’re an honor. Truly. To be trusted, and let in, and allowed to love two of their little girls? To be treated with graciousness and respect when we’re a part of their hearts being broken with longing for their absent family members? That’s an incredible and generous thing, and it’s something I don’t have words for.
I’m absolutely thrilled my “family” is growing to include the rest of our kids’ first family. It is a privilege I won’t take for granted.
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