Only after 28 years of life did I meet MY first biological family member. Our precious daughter, Madison.
So when family, friends, and even strangers tell me she looks just like me, it makes my heart skip. Every time. And it probably always will.
Physical resemblances are something I never even thought twice about. No wait...I have thought about it. If I honestly reflect back on my life...I know I've thought about it. Heck. I still think about it! It's something that is almost magical to me. Is that crazy?! (I know it's not magic but simple genetics.) I love looking at someone's face and seeing how they resemble their parents or seeing a group of siblings that share family resemblances. I am even so thankful for my two Aunts...as certain facial expressions and angles of their faces remind me of my mother.
So now, I find myself looking at my Madison. A lot. I know we have the same eyes and the same nose. She has her Daddy's mouth and hair. She also has the most perfect combination of both of our not so pretty feet.
Perhaps I just didn't want to acknowledge I was really thinking about something that I felt, and maybe still feel, is something I shouldn't be thinking about. Being adopted...that whole being born in another country and flying to the United States at the tender age of 3 months. I would never want my Dad or family to feel as if I don't feel 100% part of our family. Because I do. I love my parents and family unconditionally. Heck. I forget I'm even adopted half the time!!! It almost always takes other people's questions to remind me that I am Korean...or that my brother and I are not biologically related. So for me, it's kinda a double-edged sword. Do I celebrate and relish in the fact that I finally have an obvious mini-me? Or am I placing too high of an importance on the fact that Madison is my biological daughter? Maybe these aren't even related and I just need to stop over-thinking this aspect of my life.
What I do know is that I can't help but feel the same ever-lasting unconditional love for Madison as I also feel for and from MY parents. My parents and I may not be bonded by blood...but we still share a special and ever-lasting parent/child relationship.
So now, I find myself looking at my Madison. A lot. I know we have the same eyes and the same nose. She has her Daddy's mouth and hair. She also has the most perfect combination of both of our not so pretty feet.
Perhaps I just didn't want to acknowledge I was really thinking about something that I felt, and maybe still feel, is something I shouldn't be thinking about. Being adopted...that whole being born in another country and flying to the United States at the tender age of 3 months. I would never want my Dad or family to feel as if I don't feel 100% part of our family. Because I do. I love my parents and family unconditionally. Heck. I forget I'm even adopted half the time!!! It almost always takes other people's questions to remind me that I am Korean...or that my brother and I are not biologically related. So for me, it's kinda a double-edged sword. Do I celebrate and relish in the fact that I finally have an obvious mini-me? Or am I placing too high of an importance on the fact that Madison is my biological daughter? Maybe these aren't even related and I just need to stop over-thinking this aspect of my life.
What I do know is that I can't help but feel the same ever-lasting unconditional love for Madison as I also feel for and from MY parents. My parents and I may not be bonded by blood...but we still share a special and ever-lasting parent/child relationship.
I don't think I can really compare Madison and me with my Dad and me. It's like comparing apples and oranges. Each relationship is it's own. I've decided to just be appreciate of the fact that I've been given family through both circumstances. That I've had the privilege to learn the power of love and the strength of family through adoption and through biological birth.
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