I adopted a white baby everyone said was “too different.”
They were wrong. He became my mirror.
The first time I saw Eli, he was wrapped in a blanket too big for his tiny body. Skin pale as snow. Eyelashes so light they almost disappeared. Someone whispered, “You don’t look like his mama.”
I smiled and said, “That’s okay. He’ll know it in his heart.”
Every trip outside felt like a test.
Strangers stared. Some asked questions that cut deeper than they knew.
A cashier once said gently, “He doesn’t look like you.”
I answered just as gently, “He acts like me. That’s what matters.”
Home was where we matched.
Eli followed me everywhere—dancing in the kitchen, coloring my hands with his crayons, laughing like he belonged there. Because he did.
When illness left me weak, Eli brought me water and whispered, “Don’t worry, Mama. I’ve got you.”
That was the moment I saw it clearly.
Two souls reflecting the same light.
Love didn’t make us similar.
Love made us family.
