Monday, August 9, 2010

To be part of two worlds


On July 4th this year, our family was in Brazil. Our baby daughter's first trip to her other home country. July 4th was always a big holiday for my family growing up. So we were torn. How do we celebrate the biggest national holiday of the year when we are in another country, one that our family is equally connected to?

The Brazilian side of our family solved the solution by throwing a July 4th barbecue that could not be beat. Everyone worn red, white, and blue, played American music and danced, and we even put up fireworks in the evening.

And lest you think this was merely a kind gesture, Brazil lost their quarter-final game in the World Cup just two days before. Though the wound from that loss was still raw, our family jumped in head-first to celebrate our nuclear family's heritage. What they did was nothing short of sacrificial. It made us realize that our daughter can grow up and be part of two completely different worlds, just as long as she has a supportive family on both sides of the equator.

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