Happy Birthday to the greatest son a mom could ask for!

8 years ago a woman in Jacobtown, Liberia gave birth to a tiny little African boy!  He was perfect.  She rejoiced in his healthiness and sheer beauty.

7 years ago the woman in Jacobtown noticed here baby wasn't acting right.  She took him to the hospital and found out he had TB.

6 years ago the woman in Jacobtown put her hand on her son's back and noticed that there was something strange developing.  

5 years ago the woman in Jacobtown did everything in her power to stop the growth of the bump on her baby's back, but it kept getting bigger and bigger.  She could no longer hide his disability from the neighbors.

4 years ago the woman in Jacobtown realized her son was sick again and treated him once more for TB.  She also everything she could to protect him from persecution for his crooked back.

3 years ago the woman in Jacobtown did everything she could to make enough money to support her family now that her son's father had left.

2 years ago the woman in Jacobtown began to realize she couldn't care or feed her beautiful 6 year old son and began to think of other options.

1 year ago the woman in Jacobtown got in a taxi with her son and went to an orphanage in Monrovia.  They told her they had found a woman in America that wanted to adopt her son and would give him a good life.  The woman hugged her son and promised to always love him and walked away.

Meanwhile...

1 year ago I sat in my living room with my closest friends in front of a "Finding Nemo" cake and celebrated the 7th birthday of the son who was waiting for a woman he had never met to come and grab him and promise to never leave.

TODAY  I woke up my amazing 8 year old son and said "happy birthday baby".   He jumped into my arms from the top bunk of his bed and held onto me so tight and just kept saying "mommy, mommy, mommy"  and all I could say back was, "my son, my son, my son".

We went to his favorite Chinese restaurant to eat some fried rice (his favorite thing in the world) and some "pork meat"!

In true Liberian fashion he dug into the bone!  Good thing those teeth are finally coming in!

I seriously think we look like each other!