Thursday was my first Thanksgiving here in Utah. This year, seeing as I have been in Salt Lake City for less than a year I joined a friend and his family to celebrate the holiday. I joined a tradition of eating out on Thanksgiving. (Something really new to me.) We went to a buffet at the Marriot downtown.

Now Utah is not the most diverse state. I happened to be the only black person having dinner, save for two cute little black kids, both around 6 or 7. I could tell they were adopted. They were a part of the largest group in the restaurant, and all the other family members were white. It warms my heart to see families like this. Because I know my son now belongs to a mixed race family as well.

Throughout dinner I noticed the little girl staring at me, a lot. I could feel her eyes following me whenever I got up to get my next plate of food or laughed loudly with my friends. Midway through dinner my friend tapped me on the shoulder and said “That little girl is pointing at you.”

I looked over and I could see the little girl frantically tapping her father on the shoulder and pointing in her direction. I could see her saying “Daddy do you see the black lady.”
The father was a bit embarrassed. He tried to get his daughter to lower her hand, but she said “But, Daddy she looks like me.”
I mean talk about your heart melting!

I went over and introduced myself and asked how old the girl was, where the little girl got her hair done, etc. All the while I was thinking of my own son. Will he do the same thing one day?
It was a really hard decision to choose a family who is not the same race as me. As a birth mother I worry if he will feel accepted or different.

I hope with the open adoption he won’t feel so isolated. He’ll know me, right? Plus Utah grows more diverse every day. Only time will tell.

To send Dee a message, email to adopt@aactofloveadoptions.com or leave a message on the post.