For Chinese New Year I bought Lillie a new book. It is an Illustrated version of the poem below. It was written anonymously for the charity Mother Bridge of Love. Mother Bridge of Love, a charity that reaches out to Chinese children all over the world in order to develop a connection between China and the West, and between adoptive culture and birth culture receives the royalties from the book. I love the poem and the book...now if I could just read it without crying!
Once there were two women
Who never knew each other.
One you do not know.
The other you call mother.
Two different lives
Shaped to make you one.
One became your guiding star;
The other became your sun.
The first one gave you life;
The second taught you to live it.
The first gave you a need for love;
The second was there to give it.
One gave you a body,
The other taught you games.
One gave you a talent.
The other taught you aims.
One gave you emotions;
The other calmed your fears.
One saw your first sweet smile;
The other dried your tears.
One found a home for you
That she could not provide.
The other prayed for a child;
Her hope was not denied.
And now you ask, of course you do,
The question others ask me too:
This place or your birthplace –
Which are you a daughter of?
Both of them, my darling –
And two different kinds of love.
