I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend polishing off any leftovers (Casa Brillig had turkey soup tonight!) and doing whatever your Thanksgiving weekends generally entail. We had a great time with both kids at home, and the house feels a little emptier with K1 back in Rochester until Christmas.
Both kids. I love being able to say that. Some of you remember when saying Kid Brillig was enough, and then all of a sudden we had K1 and K2. Those kids are 23 and 16 now, but it wasn’t until only twelve years ago — yesterday, as a matter of fact — that we were all together for the first time, and why Thanksgiving is so closely tied to our family’s Origin Story.
I checked my story history and I haven’t marked the Gotchaversary occasion since 2017, so it seemed fitting to do so tonight. What I said waaaay back in 2011 is still exactly how I remember it happening:
We [brillig, mik and K1] left for London the Monday before Thanksgiving 2009, spent a few days visiting friends, then the day after a Thanksgiving spent with friends at a lovely little Brazilian restaurant in SoHo, we flew to Addis Ababa. Jet-lagged and achy after 9 hours on The Least-Legroom Jet Ever, we met our driver from the orphanage, loaded our bags in, and arrived at Horizon House. We thought we'd have some time to freshen up before we met OUR SON for the very first time, but as soon as we stepped out of the van, one of the nannies asked who we were there to meet. We gave K2's name, and suddenly "K2, your Mommy Daddy Sister here!!" and he came immediately over to hug us!!!
That was “Thanksgiving Saturday”, and no matter what the actual calendar date is, we always tell this story. Because K2 was so little when he came here, he doesn’t remember anything of life in Ethiopia, but we try to remember as much as we can and tell him all the stories.
It is really hard to remember that he was NOT with us the first four years of his life. We’ll be talking about things sometimes, then suddenly remember “ohhh, that was before you were here!” K1 and K2 bonded instantly as siblings, and the first night he slept in our room at the Addis Ababa orphanage guest house, it was curled up on a tiny cot with K1. Seven years age span made it hard but as they both approach their adulthood, the age gap is shrinking. I don’t post pictures of them because privacy, but on my social media yesterday posted a photo of them hugging and the look in their eyes hasn’t changed in twelve years.
Happy Gotchaversary Day, K2! You made our family exactly who it was supposed to be!
With the growing civil unrest and violence overtaking Ethiopia, our hearts go out to the wonderful people we met while there. During our week there we traveled south from the capital Addis Ababa to K2’s birth village, Arbegona. We spent the night in the Sidama capital city of Hawassa. As you hop the story break for tonight’s Tops, have a taste of the sights and music of this part of Ethiopia.
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From inkstainedwretch:
FishOutofWater suggests how the NYT could understand why liberals are so angry. From xaxnar’s Is The NY Times Concern Trolling Kos - and us? UPDATED.
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Top Mojo for yesterday, November 28th 2021, first comments and tip jars excluded. Thank you mik for the mojo magic! For those of you interested in How Top Mojo Works, please see his diary on FAQing Top Mojo.
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