One Family's Holiday

Holidays are a special time... family gathers around and traditions begin. TRADITIONS... that magical word can result in the creation of memories. Memories that we want for our children so they can always look back on them, smile, and reminisce.

Upon choosing adoption our family motto has become a quote from Maya Angelou:

"Families are held together by choice. Members are alike and unalike yet there is comfort in the sameness and excitement in the differences. When we respect and relish BOTH conditions we can call ourselves FAMILY."

That said, how do we respect our family and our nationalities? In the beginning we started out simply with food and we incorporated them into our holidays. We celebrate Christmas with the Seven Fishes meal to honor my Italian roots. We added Korean foods such as Kimchi and Bulgogi (YUM!). And our family members (immediate and extended) have quickly come to crave bulgogi! The next year we added a little music to the mix: Italian, English, and Korean. It grew from there. Santa now brings our children a Korean gift each year and it is usually something that the whole family can share and grow from. The children have received Korean books, games, name chops, maps, and musical instruments honoring their heritage. We now seek out special Korean festivals during the holidays to attend. It usually means a little traveling, but it is all well worth it. We all gain so much from it. And it has resulted in us wanting to join in on festivities celebrating a variety of nationalities! Last year we were so excited to have been told about a special Christmas event going on at the Korean Presbyterian Church in Hopkinton. We were filled with Christmas spirit and joy from the Korean community.

This year we are creating a special Christmas tree with Korean flags, colors, and ornaments. We are having fun creating some of the ornaments ourselves! While some things remain as a tradition, we have begun to incorporate Korean music, books, games, and food into our every day lives. We have tried to learn some Korean songs to also sing along with our traditional American songs. And the children have begun to help us write letters to their birth families.

The holiday season is such a magical time filled with hopes and dreams of the children. For our family, this is an opportune time to commemorate their beginning place.

Happy Holidays!
The Powers Family