Jennifer Berkemeier,
Farmington Hills, MI.
I’m a single mom. I adopted my daughter from Haiti in 2012 when she was 4 years old. I’m white, and 15 years older than most of her friends’ moms. We get a lot of stares and unwelcome comments from little kids (“Is she your grandma?” “How come you’re different colors?” “She can’t be your mom…she’s white”). We love each other. We talk about race, her origin, being white and black, and being a non-traditional family. I’m teaching her to embrace it and be proud of it. It’s strange and painful to teach someone about slavery when you’re white and she’s black.
