Family
Over Christmas Valera gave me a tiny red heart-shaped padlock. The kind you get out of a quarter toy machine. His eyes were lit up like the fouth of July and he said, "my mama" kinda quietly. I of course LOVED the little gift and put it on my key chain so I could see it every day. Two days later he handed me another one, again he said, "my mama." I gave him a huge hug and placed the other one in a safe place to keep it from getting scuffed up.
Just days after the boys left for their long journey back to Ukraine, I was online and saw a picture of a gorgeous snowy covered bridge. I clicked on it out of curiosity. Looking back, I can see now that it was a glimpse into our future.
As I looked in closer, I asked myself, "what are those, are those ribbions tied to the bridge?" So I clicked on the picture again and it led me to a link with many photos, all with PADLOCKS locked onto bridges!! At first it looked like litter and then I read the title, Bridges of Love. My heart melts just thinking about it; the photo below,
to my disbelief, was taken in Kiev Ukraine. It's a pederstiran
Love Lock Bridge.
Love lock bridges are found all over the world, and although they are usually a tradition done by two lovers the thought behind a love lock is that you clasp your padlock onto a bridge and toss away the key to ensure your love lasts forever. I can't help but want to create a special memory for my family by having our own symbol of forever unity and love for eachother.
We had not yet decided to adopt the boys and so at the time it was just a sweet gesture from my little boy to me. He had handed me a padlock, and to me it meant he wanted to give me a heart, a smooth, shiny, red, flawless heart. What I didn't know is that perhaps it might have meant more. Perhaps it's not just a little peice of heart shaped metal. Maybe, just maybe, there is meaning behind his, "my mama".
When he handed it to me that day, his enormous smile and sparkling eyes were looking up to me with so much affection and wonder. I honestly can't say if he knows anything about the Eurpoean traditions encircling padlocks but I can imagine that he must have heard a story or two.
So much to my surprise they CAME, all the way from India, they came!! Padlocks!
So of course you can imagine how excited I was to receive our own special padlocks in the mail the other day. Wrapped in old canvas sack cloth, sealed with wax, bubble wrapped and then tightly enclosed in a news paper from India were our very own locks of love.
We plan to attach one lock to the love lock bridge in Ukraine and then display one in our home to remember that we're a family no matter what!
сім'я
(sim'ya)
=
Family
