"And you are Mama's wife and Mama is your wife?"

Lately, Skye has been studying our family tree and how she fits into it all. I suppose all children start to build an awareness of how they are related to each member of their family,  but I doubt that not all lessons are received with the same undivided attention that a cashier at Target gave Skye as she recapped her understanding.

Skye loves to shop for clothes, so when her Trinidadian grandparents were in a few weeks ago, they took her Christmas shopping so she could pick out her own outfits. The rules were clear. She could pick out four outfits and they would be wrapped and waiting for her on Christmas morning. She reveled in the adventure of picking colors and styles and the perfect accessories for each outfit. She picked a blue outfit to match her eyes, a purple outfit and two pink outfits because it was her favorite color. Skye is not a quiet child, so she was using her best stage voice in the girls' department to describe each piece of jewelry she picked to go with her outfits.

As Donna and her parents corralled Skye to the checkout, she loving held her Grandpa's hand and then asked Donna to confirm her understanding of her family tree. You must understand what the cashier was seeing as well as hearing. Granny is a beautiful rich coffee color and Granddad has a red tone to his tan skin. Both of them have beautiful snow-white hair now. Donna is a perfect blend of both her parents, caramel-colored skin and salt and pepper hair.  Skye is a fair-skinned blond with navy-blue eyes.

Skye said, "Mummy, Granny is your Mummy and you are my Mummy, right?"

Donna answered, "Yes, Skye."

Skye continued, "And Granddad is your Daddy and my Granddad, right?"

Donna responded, "Yes, Skye."


"And you are Mama's wife and Mama is your wife?"

"Yes, Skye."

"And I'm Hunter's sister and Hunter is my brother?"

"Yes sweetheart."

Skye was satisfied and the cashier was riveted. She suddenly snapped back to the task at hand and cashed out this diverse family. Throughout the whole lesson, Granny and Granddad and Donna were beaming, clearly proud at how easily Skye put all the pieces together and entertained by the cashier's reaction. The cashier was dumbfounded at how all the pieces fit together. Yet Skye perfectly understood how her family tree branched out from her Mummy and proudly shared her knowledge.

I love my diverse family. And I love how openly we all walk through the world together, accepting one another and embracing our differences. There is a warmth in our family that keeps out the cold that ignorance and fear bring. That warmth is fueled by the fiery pride we share and the faith that someday, conversations similar to this one will be overheard and all that will be on the cashier's face is a friendly smile.