I have to admit, for a few days after the incident at Kajal's school I walked around in a bit of a funk. Seeing racism so incredibly up close left me more than a bit down and in the moments I wasn't feeling down I was angry at the school system, at the child and at her parents. I tried to be upbeat for Kajal but inside, I just felt sadness at what she's had to face, may yet face in the future. On Bunker Hill day (yes, that's a holiday in Boston) I took the afternoon off and took Kajal to Boston's Holocaust Memorial. I read the poem 'First they came for the Communists, and I didn't say anything because I wasn't a Communist, then they came for the Jews and I didn't say anything because I wasn't a Jew..." and we walked through the six tall columns of glass. I read her the poetry and explained to her about hatred, racism, prejudice and the harm they have done in the world. I also talked about how the world finally stood up and said this is wrong and how important it is to stand up when we see prejudice or experience it, to stand up and say 'no' this is not right. I showed her the numbers etched in the walls of glass and told her that each number represented a person. She would reach out and touch the numbers. 'Can we say the number aloud Mom? And we would, we would read the numbers aloud and say a prayer for that person".

After the Memorial we walked to the Public Gardens and fed the ducks, ate icecream and had tea and hot chocolate at the 4 Seasons. There was this moment when she was sitting on my lap at the edge of the pond and a beautiful swan swam right up to us. She laughed with joy and threw a bread crumb into water and we watched the magnificent swan gobble it up happily. It was such a perfect moment and I savored every second.

Yesterday, Kajal graduated from Kindergarden. We made a big deal out of the day. She wore one of her favorite dresses, we called Grandma first thing in the morning so she could sing her songs to her over the phone. As I watched her singing her songs with the rest of her class I couldn't take my eyes off of her. She glowed with happieness and danced and sang as if she's been here with us all of her life.  I cheered her on as she sang with all of her heart. As I watched her, I pictured the child she was in India. I had flashes of her life with me this past year and a half, the good times and the hard ones. My heart was so full and all I kept thinking was how much I love being her mother.

She's so happy and so proud. The woman, Bee, who works at our local florist gave her a beautiful bouquet of flowers and we celebrated by going to the Old North's gift shop where I allowed her to pick out something small to mark the day. She chose matching heart lockets, one for each one of us. To put our pictures in and and keep us close to each other when we're not together.

Every person she see's she's been telling them 'I congraduated! Yesterday was congraduation day!"

Yes it was. Congradulations my baby.... you are truly amazing.




Kajal's graduating from Kindergarden