Look at those big eyes, a little unsure of the camera and that large orange face next to him.
I love this kid.
His energy, his laughter, his sense of self. His kind heart.
Does he know that I wished for him? At Gino's, an Italian restaurant back home in Indiana, I held that penny tightly in my hand as I walked up to the fountain. Squeezed my eyes shut and took a deep breath. "I wish for a baby brother." A four-year-old wanting to change the course of her family.
The patience he has with others. The way he tries to help everyone in a room feel comfortable. How he goes out of his way to talk with people, even though talking with people is not always something he wants to do.
A few weeks ago, my baby brother joined me out here in the Northwest. We are now two hours away from each other instead of two plane rides.
How much he has learned about himself in the last two years. How this journey has made him stronger, braver, and more open.
Yesterday, I was lucky enough to spend the day with him. Learning, laughing, working, eating. He invites me to look at my life in a different way. He has become one of my teachers. How blessed I am that his soul heard my wish, and he came to this family.
