A place of honor...

So recently we decided it was time to add Meron's Ethiopian Mother and Ethiopian Grandmother's photos to our walls. Doug and I had shown Meron the pictures a while back, and she had asked to look at them a few times since. Each time, I would show her the pictures, and with each showing, there was a little more rejection. Not rejection of me, but rejection of her birth family.

Doug thought that it would be good to place their photos in a frame with all of us, to show that we are all one family. The hope was that she would not reject her past, but embrace it.

I think it turned out beautiful, and it does feel very family based.

We gave Meron the option to pick where in the house she would like to put it. We told her we would take down any painting or photo... She chose to put it in a hallway where we display all of our family photos (school pics, wedding pics, etc.) She smiled really big when we hung it up, and is happy to answer questions about it when we have company.

Most of the time, I feel like Doug and I are just winging it on these types of issues. For those of you that have brought your children home, how have you handled these things? For those that are still waiting, do you have plans for these types of situations? What are they?