Elynna, little star

On the day you arrived in this world you were greeted by an international group of excited relatives. Grandpa and grandma had flown in from Nigeria, ba noi and ong noi from Germany; and your auntie Lami came all the way from the U.S. Together we had traveled more than 30,000 miles to marvel at your face.

Your papa Luan counted all the ways in which your mama Tiffany needed to breathe to get through the hours it took to give you life. Your grandma Cheryl, in the same room, lent a helping hand to her, too. Grandpa Dale and ba noi Lua paced back and forth in the hallway outside as did I, recording each peep I could hear from outside of the room.

You won’t remember this but you were welcomed into this world with nothing but unmitigated love. It was a moment of change for all of us.

You see, we had learned throughout time to be on our own. From our time as children in need to self-sufficient adults we increasingly moved away from one another, both figuratively and quite literally. We learned to walk, then study, then work, then to pursue our dreams abroad. Eventually, we each had our own lives, far away from another. And amidst all this, we got out of the habit of being together.

But then you came. Like a little star with its own gravitational pull, you’ve brought together a family that had been flung into the farthest corner of this planet.

You’ve changed us, little pipsqueak, you really have. And for that I thank you so very much. Below I made a chart to show you how much we talk to each other now. And since I know that you love music, I made it into a weird little song so you can dance your little butt off.

We speak and react to one another almost every day now, when before I may have heard from each other once a week at most: we get to share the moments you roll, the moments your parents talk to you, the moments you do a number 2.💩

During a time when we were all concentrating so hard on being adults with responsibilities you allowed us to rediscover the normalcy of everyday conversation with each other.

Thank you, my beloved little one. Thanks for all you’ve imparted in is and in me during the short, short time you d been with us.