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Show rfflifetrfflffi'. Blended History and Blended Traditions in i i n i i ii i i . i.. .i . r p 1. 1 1 . j fidence in him when it came to adopting. There are some parents who are not sure they can parent par-ent a child of a different ethnicity, eth-nicity, and they pursue what is known in the adoption world as a genetic match. Basically, a child that looks like them. I have the utmost respect for these parents. It's a remarkable remark-able thing to adopt a child, to open your home and your heart to someone who comes to you via a phone call, rather than a delivery room. Our first adoption was a baby, born in Washington to a mother of Asian descent. And he was perfect. Well, as perfect as kids can be. When it came time to adopt again, we found that this time we DID care about the ethnicity. We knew that we were going to continue adding to our family through adoption. It was important to us that our child not grow up as the only Asian in a white family. fami-ly. So, for our second adoption we looked to China. After that followed, India, Haiti and finally Colombia. Each time we adopted a child or children, we tried to find some things that were unique about that country. We made sure that we bought items that were unique to the country and the culture. Some, like my son's stuffed panda, we gave the children right away. Other items, like dresses for my girls from Colombia, we saved until they were older. We also looked at the holidays that were unique to the countries coun-tries and tried to incorporate those into our family holiday schedule. So,' while we get excited ex-cited about New Years Day on January 1, we also enjoy Chinese Chi-nese New Years on January 3 1 this year. (Welcome the year of the horse!) While we proudly fly the flag, eat potato salad and enjoy the fireworks shows on Independence Day, July 4, we also acknowledge Haiti's Independence Day, January 1 . We don't think that adding additional holidays takes anything any-thing away from the distinctly American holidays. At this point, some might be thinking, "Why would you raise your children to honor the holidays of another country? Especially holidays like Gandhi Jayanti or Haiti's Independence Day? America has always been a nation of immigrants. Even the first Americans were not really the first. They displaced peoples peo-ples who came before them. When immigrants came to this country, they brought not only their people, but pieces of their language and culture. Ask yourself why do we celebrate cel-ebrate Cinco de Mayo? It's not Mexico's Independence Day. "Bliss" continued on Page 6 by Rodney Bliss With thirteen kids, we have lots of birthdays. But, we love the other holidays as well; the big ones, of course, Easter, Thanksgiving, Halloween Hallow-een and Christmas especially is a major event for us. But, we also enjoy Independence days, July 4 and January 1, New Years, January 1 and January 3 1 . We even have been known to show some love to Gandhi Jayanti, October 2, Ghandi's birthday. When we first considered adopting we were asked if we had a preference on the race or ethnicity of the child. The question wasn't one that we'd ever considered. It took us a little while to figure out our answer. We decided, that just as we had accepted whatever birth children God had sent us, we would place the same con- got a new last name, and a long and prestigious history. I'm a descendent of Thomas Wool-sey, Wool-sey, who was the mail carrier for the Mormon Battalion and built the first house in the Salt Lake Valley after arriving with the pioneers July 24th, 1847. Trace the Bliss line back far enough and you find Captain Abdail Bliss, who fought in the Revolutionary war. I'm very proud of my ancestry, even though I acknowledge ac-knowledge I really did nothing noth-ing to warrant it. My children now also share that rich history his-tory and tradition. They are both first generation immigrants immi-grants and descendants of a long line of Americans. Such are the complexities of adop tions. And it's what makes our country great. Our president is both a first generation American on his father's side and descended from a long line of Americans on his mother's side. So, as my family gathers around the dinner table during dur-ing the holiday season, we will give thanks for our blessings, bless-ings, and enjoy the food and traditions. The fact that some of the old traditions are new to my kids and some of their old traditions are new to us. As we approach 2014, enjoy celebrating the new year, but don't be surprised if you see a Haitian flag on our porch honoring hon-oring an independence day as well. "Bliss" continued from Page 3 That's September 16. Cinco de Mayo, or May 5 celebrates an important battle in Mexican history. But, as Americans, we have adopted the holiday as our own. It's now the time of year to think of family. People travel hundreds or thousands of miles at Thanksgiving and Christmas Christ-mas to be with family. Nieces and nephews get reacquainted with aunts and uncles. Cousins . sit around and complain about the adults spending the whole visit talking. Family, and the stories we share this time of year are especially es-pecially important to me. Not only because my immediate family traces its roots from all over the world through adoption, adop-tion, but because I also was adopted. When I was 14 1 was adopted by my step-father. I |