Siblings?

Are they siblings?  

We get this question.  ALL THE TIME.  After about the first 3 days of being home I began realizing this was the one question everyone asked.  Even strangers on the street, because you know my family is their business too????  I never know exactly what to say to this question.  

 So are they siblings?  Well.....

 My two children first met in a guest house in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia nearly 2 years ago.  They were from two different orphanages, two different parts of the country, understood two different languages and had never laid eyes on each other before.  In case one missed something from the last 2 sentences, they are not biological siblings. They were 8 months and almost 2 years old at the time.  It was the day they had both lost the only life they ever knew.  Both of them were grieving, confused, and terrified with what was happening to them.  They showed it in their own ways.  Mimi didn't smile for days.  She hung her head in despair and was what I could only best describe as a limp noodle.  She wouldn't walk.  Or talk.  Abraham was restless, unable to sleep for more than a few hours at a time.  He would wake up screaming, completely terrified and confused. He didn't want to be held, touched, or comforted by us.  He wanted to be left alone in the corner with an endless supply of milk in his bottles. 

There was no explaining to either one of them what was happening or that it would all be okay in time.  But in those first days of fear, grief, and sorrow my children had each other.  I believe both of them were comforted by the fact that they were not alone in what I am sure they perceived as the most terrifying event in their life.

Days after we returned home I began seeing the comfort and love they gave one another.  If he cried she would bring him a toy.  Or rub his little forehead.  If she left his side for too long he army crawled his little body to remain an arm lengths away from her, which he always liked to be.  Which he still likes to be.  In their early days of communication the most frequent words uttered were, "Where Mimi?".  "Where Bubba?" 

Since that day in Ethiopia, the two of them have grown together and formed a bond that will forever be theirs.  And after the last 2 years of watching their relationship, I don't believe for one second that my non-biological related children have or will have any less of a relationship growing up because of this. I'm not gonna lie.  Before they were home I thought their relationship may not be as special or significant because they were not biologically related.  I was wrong.  Really wrong.

 In fact, I cannot imagine a closer relationship between a brother and a sister.  I have yet to see it anyways.  Their love, empathy, patience and acceptance for one another astonishes me day after day.  They adore each other.  Yes they fight.  There is hitting and yelling and crying at times.  And Mimi isn't so happy with him when he comes at her full speed and wrestles her to the ground in eager boy play.  But she loves him to pieces none the less.  And he gazes at her all the time with that "you're my hero"kind of look.

Maybe it is because they have spent almost every single moment together since they met that day.  They both stay home full time with us.  Neither one is separated from the other for school, or day care or this or that, except an occasional dentist or doctor appointment.  

Or maybe their bond began in that guest house in Ethiopia.  They both were clinging to and continue to cling to that one person, the only other person who could ever really understand.  Not only their initial sorrow and despair, but their astonishing transition into healing and hope.  

So now when we are asked if they are siblings.  My answer is simple.  Yes.  They are.

And then there were the early days...

My favorite picture of all.  This pretty much sums it all up.