I'm the mother of a 19 year old
But I still feel 19 myself! I was 22 when Warrick was born. I was fairly young to be a mother, but quite honestly, choosing to keep Warrick was the best decision I made. I was in college, finishing out my degree, almost penniless and single. The odds were stacked against us, however as I look at our oldest son I stand in amazement at God's grace and mercy on our lives.
Warrick is one of the most mature, most steady and most loyal people I know. In his entire life I have only seen him lose his temper twice, but I have seen him take joy in simple pleasures. He is non-demanding, understanding, giving and loving. When I look at this young man I really do thank God for what I see.
He asked a couple of weeks ago what his budget was for his birthday. He's been 'jonesing' for a new TV for a while. We came up with a figure and he went searching. Craigslist came through for him and he found an almost new 50 inch TV for sale that was in his price limit (he had to put a bit towards it). He and Terry went and fetched it on Thursday and seldom have I seen his face light up so brightly!
The piece de resistance was the surprise birthday party that we put together. As impetuous as I am, I do like to plan ahead for things like birthday parties, so I was surprised when, with 48 hours before his actual birthday Terry suggested we throw a surprise party. And yet we had many people turn up, even with such short notice.
God has blessed this young man tremendously, and I am thankful. We have come a long way since the day of his birth in Pretoria South Africa 19 years ago. And I know the Lord has good things in store for his future.
Labels: birth, Birthday, craigslist, teenager, Warrick
Of watermelons and Fireworks
I love holidays!! I love knowing that my family can spend the day together and we get to do something fun, even if it is low-key. This year we decided to spend the afternoon at
Northern Hills Pool. Our kids were/are on their swim team, and we spend most days there. And seeing this has been a hot and dry summer we have been there almost every day!
This July 4th the pool had fun, games, a silent auction and a raffle. This was our first year participating and we had a blast! The kids took part in an egg toss, and then Teagan and I swam in a watermelon relay. Watermelons were greased up and you had to swim and push them from one side of the pool to the other. We came in third, but had fun doing it! By far the best contest was the watermelon eating one. Warrick took part in it, and won! Here he is enjoying a watermelon slice. All the contestants had to eat it with their hands behind their backs. Carson participated as well, but didn't win. He was a little bummed until he realised he was allowed to finish off his large watermelon slice.
Warrick and Carson - Carson is on the right hand side:
The finale for us was meeting up with some friends and then driving up to a little town in the Hill Country called
Kerrville to watch their fireworks. Our friends, Chris and Autumn have been making the drive for about four years and extolled the virtues of this particular fireworks display. Kerrville isn't a large town (it does have a good tourist trade), but their fireworks truly were magnificent. And the drive there was gorgeous too - they don't call this area of Texas Hill Country for nothing! The limestone hills are beautiful and in many cases the road is cut right into the hills.
Labels: Carson, fireworks, hill country, July 4th, Kerrville, Northern Hills, pool, swimming, Teagan, Warrick, watermelon
Pageant Weekend
Back in March (or April) we received a letter in the post inviting our girls to an open call for
National American Miss. I checked it out thoroughly before taking the girls to the first open call because the last thing I wanted was to spend money and feel we were gypped. Imagine my delight when I realised this is a great organization, with good morals, and they encourage girls to become the best they can be, without relying on looks. In fact, up until the Jr. Teen level (age 13 and up), the contestants are not allowed to wear make up.
The open call consisted of the girls undergoing a short one-on-one interview, and speaking in public to the people who were in attendance. We were informed that we would receive a call back letter if our girls were accepted. Part of me thought, "Yea right, everyone will receive a letter!" However, in looking at the number of girls who were in our open call, and knowing that two more were offered that same weekend in our location, as well as open calls in Houston, Austin and Dallas, I see now that to be chosen as one of the finalists was actually a great honor. If the same number of girls came to each open call, there were probably close to 900 girls in the South Texas area alone who attended open call. Only 140 made it to state finals, and our girls were two of them.
The weekend was an eye-opener for us. We opted to do just the basic pageant - personal introduction, one-on-one interview and formal wear. There is also a talent segment, an actress segment, a spokesperson segment, a modeling segment and a photogenic segment that are optional. It does not affect the judge's scoring if one participates in those optionals (they have different judges for the optional segments), but we noticed that those girls who were involved in the optional contests were also the ones who scored the highest with the pageant judges. I think the confidence the girls get from being so involved carried over to the pageant part.
Already the girls are talking about what they want to do for next year! Of course we have to go through the call backs again, but they should do just fine. And next year Terry and I will be better prepared - there are so many things we need to do as parents to prepare the girls too.
We had planned on doing on some sight-seeing this weekend. Now we know that it is impossible to do that! Once we were in the hotel our entire focus was pretty much on the pageant! Ah well - next time...
I am posting a couple of photos here, but here is a link to an album I created from the photos we took this weekend:
Smelker Girls.
Labels: Hayley, Houston, National American Miss, Pageant, Teagan, Terry, Warrick
Dinner Dilemma
Remember the halcyon days of our youth, where our parents used to plunk a plate of food at the table and we had a choice - either eat it or go hungry? Perhaps if you're under the age of 35 you might not have those great memories! Seems like many families today, parents and kids alike, are such fussy eaters that they now eat a diet of pizza, hotdogs, pre-packaged family TV dinners, chips, salsa, cookies and ice cream. Is it any wonder then that a program like Honey We’re Killing the Kids became an instant 'water cooler' topic the moment it hit airwaves in the UK and the USA. The
Joy of Tech website even took a swat at the issue with a comic strip where a group of overweight kids tease the skinny kid for not being fat.
I know with the pressures of work and family commitments, and the running the kids a million different places it becomes hard to always prepare a fresh meal every night - but my own mother is a shining example of someone who worked a full day job and still managed to make from-scratch meals every night. Dining out was a rare treat. She also kept no 'junk' in the house, but we always had an endless supply of fresh fruit and vegetables to munch on. And in the days when she cooked, the microwave was a new invention. So what's my excuse?
Five years ago, when our children were 13, 7, 5, 4 and 3, Terry and I did something that I have never regretted, and is something I am often asked to speak to other families about. We created a family of non-fussy eaters. Our oldest son, Warrick does not know the meaning of the word fussy, and was a fantastic eater. My girls followed, and were introduced to a variety of foods at a young age, and have been pretty good about food.
But then along came child #4. As a baby he was all right, and didn’t spit too many things out. As he got older and was able to verbalise, he certainly made me aware that he was not too impressed with the family dinners! If I served pizza (rare occurrence), he was thrilled and hot dogs (maybe served once or twice a year) were heralded with crows of delight; BUT if anything coloured appeared on his plate, we heard all about it too.
One night I reached breaking point. I had made a roast, with potatoes. He liked meat and potatoes, but I had the audacity to also make corn, broccoli and perhaps even carrots. He began to cry, “I hate this. I don’t want this.” I was frustrated and angry. Like my own mother, I make almost all of our food from scratch because I want to know what it is going into it; it takes time to prepare a good meal, and for the umpteenth time it was getting turned down. I am not one those of moms who considers herself a short order cook, so there was no leaping up from the table and consoling him by making him a separate meal. And we don’t carry frozen snack foods, so I couldn’t/wouldn’t microwave some pocket-pizza-type dish.
I suddenly had a vision though, of this child 15 years down the line — refusing to eat any fruits and vegetables, eating only meat, pasta, bread, potatoes and junk food. I could not let him do that to himself. At that point I turned to Terry and said, “We are becoming vegetarians for a week.” It was a sacrifice for me too, as I love my red meat, but I wanted to instill an important lesson in our kids.
I went online and found seven vegetarian meals and the following day went to Farmer Jack and bought all I needed for the next week. I sat the kids down and explained the plan. I would make dinner that night, and we would all sit at the table to eat. If they chose not to eat the meal I made they could be excused. They would spend the rest of the evening in their room, there would be no TV, no snacks, nothing. The following morning those who had not eaten their dinner would receive their evening meal (heated) for breakfast. If they decided not to eat it, they could be excused. At snack time they would be offered their dinner from the night before. If they chose not eat it, they could be excused. The same would go for lunch, and for afternoon snack. At that time, the dinner leftovers would be scrapped, and they would be presented with a new dinner meal. They could drink water (we drink water with our meals) and at snack I would give them milk and juice, but no more than they would normally drink — I didn’t want them filling up on liquid.
The first night the seven of us sat down. Garrick, child #4, immediately started crying about the food on the table. Without losing my temper, or telling him he had to eat, I excused him from the table. Now he had nothing he could control — food can sometimes become a battle of the wills, and I never want food to be a flash point in my kid’s lives.
The following morning Garrick was presented with some of the leftovers from the night before. He cried, so Terry excused him from the breakfast table. At snack time I brought out some of the leftovers. He refused them. He also refused lunch and afternoon snack. Never once did I yell, or try and force the issue.
I made a new dish for dinner that night, and again the seven of us sat down to eat. Once again Garrick refused to eat it. By now my heart was breaking for my little four-year old, but no one said being a parent was easy! We sent him to his room.
The next morning when he came downstairs and found dinner waiting for breakfast, he was that hungry he ate it. A corner was turned! He realized the food was actually rather good, better than he’d expected. And because he ate the vegetables he could now enjoy the regular snacks the rest of the kids ate.
I wish I could say we had a care-free week after that, but that would be untrue. However, what happened was all of our kids began to experiment more with foods, and although there were a couple more nights when Garrick (or one of his siblings) went to bed without dinner, the decision to basically limit their choice to ‘either eat this food or go hungry’ worked.
That was five years ago. We have learnt that Garrick and Hayley will gag on cooked spinach, so if I make spinach, they don’t have to eat it. But they love raw spinach. All of our kids love vegetables now; and often we buy a vegetable tray from Costco as our evening meal. Garrick gravitates to the broccoli, the carrots and tomatoes. Even when I make a meal that has meat and potatoes, the kids know they have to eat some vegetables first. As a result our meat consumption has decreased, as they fill up on veggies, fruit and salads.
We are not 'food Nazis'. If you look in my pantry you will find pretzels, granola bars, and even the occasional box of Oreo's (although I make most of our cookies myself). I am not averse to a bowl of ice-cream every now and then, and my kids can spend part of their allowance on candy if they choose. But those foods are not an everyday, all day part of their lives.
I feel we have armed our kids with the ability to make wise food choices, and the knowledge that truly, veggies will not kill them!!
Labels: food, Garrick, Hayley, pizza, Terry, vegetables, Warrick
Special Mother's Day
Some Mother's Days stick in your memory like super glue. One year Terry and the kids bought me a diamond solitaire necklace. Last year we were driving home from a vacation from Disney World.
This year has far surpassed my expectations. Firstly, on Wednesday morning I was featured on
Great Day SA as they told our story of being a surrogate. That show was repeated this morning - Mother's Day.
Terry has booked a massage and facial for me at
Spa Jane. I will go and enjoy that on Thursday morning, and I am thoroughly looking forward to it.
But my biggest surprise came this morning as I made my way downstairs after getting ready for church. On the kitchen table was a smallish bag with a couple of cards. I read the cards and then took the gift paper off the bag. I was expecting something small like perfume, or perhaps a watch, but what I saw instead was this:
Warrick and Terry decided to split the cost of the phone and yesterday while they were out picking up Warrick's new bed, they stopped off at The Apple Store and bought me the one and only cell phone I have said I wanted! I am not really a gadget kind of person, I seldom use anything other than my iMac on a regular basis. But when the iPhone debuted last year, I said to Terry, "I want that phone!" It's the only time I have ever asked for a gadget! Terry was thrilled, thinking that maybe I was becoming a gadget geek like him.
So, welcome to my new phone - like any Mac product in this house, it has a name. I have named my phone Aidan, it means 'happiness' and was my first choice as a name for Warrick before I was persuaded to choose a different name. This is my first iPhone and therefore seemed appropriate.
This Mother's Day will certainly stick out in my mind!
Labels: cards, iPhone, kids, massage, Mother's Day, Terry, TV, Warrick
Smelker News
It's been a while since I posted; mostly because since the beginning of the year (I know, I know, only 3 weeks!) I have been slammed with work. It's a good thing, really! It is either that or get an office job. As much as I enjoyed working for DNP Photo last December, I much prefer the flexible schedule working from home allows me to have. I can volunteer at the school as needed, in fact tomorrow I have to stand in the copy room for a couple of hours copying the newsletter I created for the nine week period ending on Friday.
Warrick has moved back home. Last June he moved to a friend's house, a kind of half way point between leaving home, striking out on his own in an apartment. Even though he makes good money (for an 18 year old) he realised he just couldn't make it financially, not without incurring debt and he KNOWS how we feel about debt! We invited him to move back and I am happy he is here. We seldom see him, he leaves for work in the morning, comes home for dinner some nights and then works on his college material.
Terry has been kept very busy by a client named Chris Voss. He was recently featured on local television about his work on a particular home,
Sitterle Homes. The neat thing is Terry actually designed several of the pieces mentioned in the article, and then Chris created them. Right now Chris is working with a VP of Dell in Austin, and Terry designed several of the pieces that Chris will now create from iron.
As the weather warms I am sure we will spend more time outside! We took advantage of the warm weather at the end of December and spent the day at the zoo, but it has been too cold for even these Michigan transplants to return!
Labels: Chris Voss, Warrick, Zoo
Warrick - Preacher?
Last night Warrick gave a mini-sermon at the church youth group. He has given a mini-sermon before, but this was the first time we have been invited! Terry looked over at me about one minute into it and said, "It's like looking at a different person, just someone who has invaded our son's body"! And I have to agree - Warrick was awesome. The topic was not allowing the dreams God gave you die, but also walking in His time to fulfill the dream. He used a very powerful quote from
Lou Engle a pastor who speaks very compellingly of God's dreams and desires and how He created each one of us to fulfill that purpose.
Although Warrick is studying for a business degree (and I think that is important) I do believe the Lord is calling this young man into the pastoral ministry.
We walked out of the youth service absolutely amazed at this is our oldest son - he never fails to amaze me!
Labels: College, preacher, Warrick
He's 18
Standing in the card aisle, trying to pick out a card, I was overwhelmed with emotion when I realised that my 'baby', my oldest child is now officially an adult. He has been adult-like for several years, graduating early, moving out this summer, working, studying at College, but when he needed something legal to be done, we still had to sign papers and give our permission. All that ended on November 1st.
Those who know me best know I am not a person who cries easily - it takes a lot to bring a tear to these eyes! But as I stood in the aisle yesterday I have to admit to choking up a bit at the thought of my son being 18. He can vote, he can get married, (hopefully not for a while still!) he can get drafted(!) and I cannot now put a halt to it, even if I wanted to.
Warrick has matured into a fine young man; filled with wisdom and grace; filled with a love of the Lord and for people. He is remarkably even-tempered, and I have joked that when I grow up I want to be just like him!
I cannot imagine who I would be if it were not for Warrick. I was single when he was born, and he was four when Terry and I married and Terry adopted him. Warrick got the best dad any child could ever want. A lot of who I am was shaped in those early years as a single mother, choosing to look after my baby and putting his needs above my own. I thank the Lord every day for Warrick.
Labels: adult, birth, eighteen, Warrick
Christmas Already??
Yesterday Terry and I started the auditioning process for the children's Christmas play! Can you believe we have to start thinking about this already?! Last year the news that the kids were to do a play was thrust on us at the last minute and we had a month to pull a full production together! The beauty is we did it, and the performance was the best so far for our fledgling church.
This year Terry is director and lead for the play; so he decided to do one he has performed in before, called A Star is Born. It follows a group of children preparing for a big Christmas television production. When Sophia the actress comes to play the role of Mary, the director and the other actors try to help her understand that the "star" of any Christmas production is Jesus Christ.
When we performed it several years ago at our last church, Warrick was one of the Wisemen, tripping his way across the stage and being a wiseguy. We tried to persuade Garrick to try out for the role this time, but he is having none of it. Hayley auditioned and read well, so it will be interesting to see if she finally gets picked for a part. The last thing we need is to be accused of playing favourites if we do choose her to have a speaking part.
We have one more round of auditions before posting who plays what and then the rehearsals begin!
Labels: Christmas, play, Warrick
College Bound
Well, after much debate and research Warrick has settled on a college to attend. He decided to do online classes (I think this is defintiely the wave of the future) but he wanted a college where his diploma/degree does not have 'online' in the college line. Makes sense, because even though he is getting the same instruction as students who actually attend class, there is still some stigma attached to online classes, as though they are somehow 'less'. Personally I think a person who gets his/her degree online demonstrates an extraordinary amount of self control and discipline. You have to make yourself sit down and get a class assignment done otherwise you don't get credit.
Warrick will be getting his associates degree in Business to start with - he is choosing to do it in 15 months! So by December 2008 he will have the associates.
Congratulations Warrick - we are PROUD of you!
Labels: College, Warrick
The Countdown Is Almost Done
The Smelker Seven are getting ready to go somewhere we haven't been in almost 9 years. And that somewhere is
Walt Disney World, the Wonderful House of Mouse, and as far as Terry is concerned, the
only place on earth to vacation.
According to the calendar we have upstairs in the game room we have 20 days until we pack up the conversion van and make the 16 hour drive to Florida. Thank God for a third driver (Warrick). The kids are excited although really the four little ones have nothing to compare it to; the last time we went Teagan was two and a half and Hayley only 11 months old. I was 7 months pregnant with Garrick and Carson was not even a glimmer in anyone's eye.
The vacation is already paid for, completely paid in cash so all we had to do was save for gas, food and souvenirs, and even that has been done. All that's left is to wait, patiently, (hard for Terry) and plan our days at the parks to maximize our time there.
Labels: Carson, Disney, Garrick, Hayley, Teagan, Warrick
Life Back To Normal
Last week at this time, Warrick and I were driving home from Houston after picking up the girls from their long plane ride. Two days ago I was sent the last of the photos, which included their last day in England, and their final trip to London.
As is typical for those who travel, when you ask what they did, or what they saw, the girls intitially said almost nothing. It takes time to process memories and to think things through. So I am hearing more this week than I did last week.
This photo was taken in London:
And this one with Michael, their cousin, on their last day in the UK:
Labels: Hayley Teagan, Michael, UK, Warrick
Empty Nest?
On Wednesday March 7th Teagan and Hayley flew into
Gatwick Airport to spend two weeks with my parents.
This past weekend they took the
Chunnel to
Paris, for a visit of all the famous sites.
They will also tour parts of
London, including a personal tour of
The Houses of Parliament. They will spend some time in a local school and all in all just have a great time.
The girls are also getting to meet my side of the family for the first time. My sister in law, Jenny, took the girls along with her son Michael to a local Mickey D's where they enjoyed ice cream. As you can see, Michael loves his!
On Friday night, March 9th my mother-in-law, Star, drove in from
Carrollton, to take the little boys to spend a week with her and Richard. On Saturday they spent some time at a
PT Cruiser show. They have a busy week ahead of them as well.
This leaves the house empty all day until Terry and Warrick return in the evening from their respective jobs. I believe this is the first time in almost three years that we have had this amount of time away from the kids! Yesterday after church Terry and I went out for lunch and our bill was tiny in comparison to what it would normally be!
i guess in a way this is a harbinger of days yet to come when all the kids move out. Feels weird, but it was nice to have Terry all to myself again - even if it is just for a few days.
Labels: Carson, Garrick, Hayley, Teagan, Warrick
Where Does The Time Go?
Seventeen years ago, in a hospital in Pretoria, South Africa my world was changed forever. I went from being Corinne, student, and daughter, to Corinne, mother of a son. Little did I know then when I wrestled with names for this infant of mine, what a blessing he would be, not only to me, and my family, and then later on my husband and his family, but to the people around him.
Warrick exudes an air of quiet confidence, and natural leadership. He is one of the most driven people I have ever met, and I marvel sometimes that he is my son. I picked his name because it means to "Crown a King" and "Leader", little knowing that he would live up to his name. I had initially wanted to call him Aidan - which means "Happiness" but under pressure from family, caved in. In retrospect, I made a wise choice in his name.
Today he has proven himself to be trustworthy, reliable, a go-getter and not afraid of hard work. He graduated high school 2 years early and is on his way to College to earn a Business Management degree, but the company for whom he is working already has him keeping their books.
So today as I reflect on this son of mine who is no longer a child, I thank God for him. My life has been enriched and changed because of him, and I can honestly say he has taught me so much - he is wise beyond his years.
Labels: birth, Birthday, Warrick
Big Blue Has a new Driver
We have a large conversion van, a 15 passenger van that seats 7 very comfortably. In fact the back seat folds down into a full size bed! We are very fortunate to have such a great van (although it is heavy on gas).
Warrick is learning to drive it and I let him drive to church this morning and I have to say I am very impressed with how well he handled the van. Of course like all beginner drivers he is trying to get a sense of how wide the vehicle is, and in this case, it is a wide one! He actually initially said he didn't want to learn to drive the van because he wants a car. Our attitude is that if you can drive this, then you can drive anything!
Insurance premiums wil be rising in the near future!
Labels: van, Warrick
The lennon side of the family
This blog is about our family - specifically the life and times of the Smelker kids, but I wanted to take a moment to introduce my nephew. My brother Peter and his wife Jenny, have an 18 month old son named Michael, born on February 22nd, the day after Teagan (so much for not having another event in February! My parents now have 5 events and we have 9!)
I have not met Michael yet, but he is so cute! I showed a picture of him to Warrick the other day and he said, "Man, that's me!" And apart from the fact that Michael is a tow head, I can certainly see the resemblance. He also has scrapes on him because he is fearless like Warrick!
I really hope Peter and Jenny can make it over here sometime soon.
Labels: Michael, UK, Warrick
Nicaragua - Here He Comes!
Tomorrow afternoon Warrick will board a plane for his first Central American trip. He has flown to Europe several times, flown all over the USA, and also flown in Africa, but this is his first 'south of the border' trip! Apparently the team he is with is working with the local pastors to minister to kids - there are over 15,000 street kids in Manauga (the capital) alone. On the last full day the team will have the opportunity to climb a volcano, something Warrick is looking forward to.
They won't be roughing it though! Not like when I would go into the African interior and then live in the mud huts - these pictures are of the place Warrick will be staying:
Labels: Christian Family Church, Nicaragua, Warrick
Warrick Changes School
Well Warrick decided that the drive to school in the morning, and trying to catch public transportation to Terry's office in the afternoon was just too hard. San Antonio, like Detroit, does not have great public transportation, and a couple of times he was left in the lurch as the buses ran late, and he would miss his connection and Terry would have to pick him up in the evening once he was done with work.
The high school he was to attend here, Madison initially told us that he could not enroll as a senior because he was missing a credit that he was insistent he had. Once we sorted that out, and once we enrolled him in English 4 (thanks Grandma and Grandad Lennon for contributing the funds for the class) he was able to enroll. Today was his first day at the new high school. He has 37 school days left before graduating...
He came home this afternoon and told me that 5 minutes into his first class a girl asked him out!
Labels: Madison, Marshall, Warrick
Back To School
Spring Break is over and it ended with a BANG - literally. Last night San Antonio was placed under a tornado watch and we had severe thunderstorms, and boy, that thunder was loud! The kids mostly slept through it, although Teagan crept into Hayley's bed where we found them both this morning.
Today is the first day at Longs Creek Elementary for Teagan, Hayley, Garrick and Carson. Warrick stayed at Marshall because he will graduate from there in about 10 weeks so it was pointless moving him over to Madison. The 4 younger kids were excited, although apprehensive, about starting a new school. We had made the move as easy as possible though. Terry and I went in two weeks ago with all the paper work and the prinicipal assigned teachers ahead of time so the teachers were already prepared for the Smelker invasion! The elementary school is relatively new, built in 1997 and has over 900 students, one of the largest schools our kids have ever attended, but knowing our kids they will stand out even in a big school!
Another plus is because we moved to a sub-division close to the church, there are other families from the church whose kids attend the same school. In fact, while we waited in the halls this morning Teagan and Hayley recognised two or three kids from church and the neighborhood.
Labels: Carson, Garrick, Hayley, Longs Creek, Marshall, Teagan, Turnstone Lane House, Warrick
When You Open Yourself
My oldest son graduates this year, almost two years early, so we are in the process of applying at Colleges, looking at grants and scholarships. One grant we are applying for is an African-American one. Whilst I was filling out the application I thought how open that term really is.
The colour of my son’s skin is white – so why on earth do I think I can apply for an African American grant? Easy – he is African and American, born in one continent to African parents and raised in another and is now a naturalized citizen because my American husband adopted him.
When he recently applied for a State ID, he put ‘African-American’ on his submission form but the clerk refused to take it stating, correctly too, that that is his nationality, not his race – his race is Caucasian or White. If that is the case, then African Americans should be putting Black in that box, not African American.
I think the African American movement has shot itself in the foot by moving away from the term Black American. They have opened the door to people like my son – a door I am sure most African Americans don’t want open. But my son, based on their criteria has a legitimate right to apply for an African American grant.
I have already heard the argument, “But he is not African!” Define African. Define American. Isn’t the definition one who is born in that country, or one who is naturalized and becomes a citizen of that country? It has nothing to do with the colour of one’s skin and everything to do with the country of one’s birth. If had to do with the colour of one’s skin then the only ones in America who could truly call themselves American are the Native Americans. The rest of us are interlopers who came here voluntarily or were forced onto slave ships.
And yet I am berated for wanting to apply for African American grants. Legally and logistically I surely can, and these days, seeing my son is one of the ‘disadvantaged’ because he is a white, heterosexual, Christian, conservative, middle-class, middle-income male; I will afford him as many opportunities as I can find.
He might be the only white African American on campus this fall, but the colour of his skin doesn’t diminish for one moment his heritage. He is African and proud of it!
Labels: America, South Africa, Warrick
