Somewhere Between; There But for the Grace of God Go I

Scott and I went to the movie Somewhere Between last night.  It's in Utah for a week, at the Tower.
The movie was the story of four adopted girls who came from China.  They are in their teens now, old enough to explain how it feels to have an Asian face and be raised in a Caucasian family.  The girls described themselves as "bananas" or "Twinkies," yellow on the outside and white on the inside.  The four girls' stories were quite different, yet woven together in a beautiful way.  Scott and I were riveted, taking in the thoughts and feelings of girls who are ten years older than Xanthe, and knowing that Xanthe will have some of the same feelings.

The story that struck me the most was that one of the girls went back to the village she came from and hung up a poster asking if anyone knew anything about her family.  Miraculously, within hours, a man came forward and said he was her father.  Through DNA testing, it was confirmed that he was indeed her biological father!  This American girl later went back to meet her mother, THREE older sisters and a younger brother!  The family told their story:  That they had three daughters already (I don't know how), that an ultrasound was performed and they were expecting another daughter.  That it was decided she would not have an abortion, but find a family to care for the baby.  The father wanted to keep her, so the mother waited until he was gone and gave the baby away.  They were so poor, the mother said, "Any family would be better than this one."  The father searched for her, not knowing the placement family had taken her to an orphanage.  He was devastated.  Watching his face on the screen as he was reunited again with his daughter, and then had to once again say good-bye, was heartbreaking.  Poverty robs so many people of basic human rights.  Keeping your baby!  How are so many people denied this basic human dignity, through nothing but poverty?

We are so fortunate to be able to feed our children here in this country, and to protect them from disease, war and suffering.  We completely lose sight of how blessed we are, and it takes a story like this to bring it back.  I can't imagine one of my children gone from my home forever, gone from our family line forever, her children gone from my family tree, her history erased.  I can't imagine making the sacrifice of letting go, to give my baby hope of survival.  But I can't imagine my children being hungry day after day, either, so I don't know which is the more difficult choice.

I walked out of the movie thinking how blessed we are.  There was so much rancor this past election season, so much bitter criticism of our leaders.  Go see this movie and then see if you have the heart to complain about one party or the other.  I promise you, it will all become irrelevant, washed away in a tide of gratitude that no matter who wins what temporary position in our government, YOU will never have to leave your baby, wrapped in a thin piece of sheet, a note pinned to her telling how much you loved her, listing her birthdate, a date that will forever cause you despair, grief, longing and shame.

That will never be your child's story.  It will never be your story.  You are blessed.  But also, you got lucky.