Hopeful for Change

Although we have technically already had a full summer break with the kiddos, it is officially summer break! Two plus months of more fun at home, laughter, crying, playing, creating, dreaming and living the good life together. I have been pretty busy at home these days just being mommy of the kiddos, Coco and two new pups! I have more pictures to upload, but something heavy is on my heart that I can't neglect to write about on this blog.

Twelve years ago at this time, we were waiting on our first baby girl, while the Ramers were waiting on the referral for her first baby boy. The times were much different then, although while reflecting, there were some similarities. It was an election year and a momental one. Ironically, it was the year we would elect the first black President of the United States. I had posted this post about all the lessons we wanted to teach our daughter including not discriminating among gender, race or religion.

We certainly had hope for equality with the first black president. Yet here we are in 2020 still trying to hang on to hope for equality with the recent senseless deaths of black men and women. We will remember 2020 for lots of reasons...one being the murder of George Floyd. While his death was preceded by many others due to racial inequality, May 25 will go down in history. Protests and riots happened - all to seek justice, evoke change and shed light on this tough subject of racism.

When Bek came to the US nearly twelve years ago, I remember thinking how privileged he was to be adopted into the greatest country by the greatest family. What I didn't think about was the fact that because of the color of his skin, he would be less privileged growing up as a black man. We were so hopeful for him to have the opportunity to thrive in this great place. It's so disheartening to have to talk to our children about the incident with George Floyd and the many others who have been racial profiled by the exact people who are supposed to protect us.

I have been at a loss for words on how to speak about this subject, but thats the whole point. We must all have uncomfortable and open dialogue in order to create change.

This year has been a rough one for so many. I always try to find the silver lining in things, and it's been tough to find. But I saw this post below, and it gave me a different perspective. 

BECOME THE CHANGE. 

I believe in a brighter future for my children, and I will never stop teaching them to treat everyone equally, to not judge others, and to love one another. I hope others will do the same so we can make this world a better place.