Asher Turns 2

Asher turned 2 years old on September 21 and we celebrated with family and a small birthday party. He is still figuring out a lot of things, including what to do with a wrapped present. He still did not understand that the whole thing was about him, but that is OK. Caleb offered to help with opening gifts and pretty much did it all for him anyway. Strangely, I remember a time when Caleb did not understand the idea of birthday presents, either.

Asher's birthday is actually a guess on the part of the orphanage workers in China where he lived the first months of his life. He was assigned that birthday according to how old he looked when he arrived. He actually had a note pinned to his jacket stating that his birthday was in August, but we were told that some of the Chinese who live in rural settings follow a lunar calendar and the dates are off by approximately a month. So, his birthday is officially the 21st of September for paperwork and citizenship purposes. That's ok, we love him all the same.

This week we travelled to Colorado for the funeral of my wonderful aunt Cindy. She was an amazing person who left behind a husband, four children and two grandchildren when she died unexpectedly. Although I was happy to see my cousins and family, I wish it had been under different circumstances. We loved her very much and I'll miss her.

Asher did not go with us to Colorado, but instead stayed withRuss' parents. We dropped him off at their house on the way. I had some misgivings about this. Not that I don't trust Russ' parents to take care of him. And not because I thought he should have gone to a funeral. Instead, I was fearful that he would think that he was moving on to the next place to live. He stayed with them for 2 days, but he didn't know how long he would be there. Six months ago, he packed up and moved away from his world and came to live with us. Although we knew it was what was best for him, he didn't know anything. His life was not that great: he lived in an orphanage with a staff to child ratio of 20:1. But it was familiar. For all he knew, he was living with us for only six months and then going somewhere else.

So, I was nervous that he wouldn't understand. And he didn't. He cried fiercely when we left, but we had to go.

Then, on the way home, we picked him back up and he greeted us with the biggest smile and hugs. As we were packing to leave Russ' parents to take him home, he started crying again, very hard. We tried consoling him and trying to make things better, but to no avail. Finally, I realized why he was crying. He thought we were leaving without him.

We drove home as a family, listening to Zac Brown in the car. I looked back at him, happily singing along with the music and looking so content and it warmed my heart. All I could think of was, you belong here. You belong with us.

At two years old, Asher has a family to call his own and that makes him happy. He may not know whatto do with birthday presents or how to blow out candles, but he knows he has a family where he belongs.