Walrond and her family are also Hurricane Harvey survivors.
This is how she parents.
Okay, so I was born in Trinidad and Tobago, in the Caribbean.
My dad was a petroleum engineer, and my mom was a schoolteacher in Trinidad.
After graduation, I worked as a lawyer in a few places, doing software licensing law, primarily.
So we adopted our daughter, Alex, from birthshes our token American.
I no longer practice law.
You mentioned that you adopted your daughter at birth.
Can you tell me about that journey?
We actually got engaged really quickly, about 18 days after our first date, which is insane.
I dont need to have kids, either.
But if we change our mind, Id like to adopt.
I have cousins who were adopted and Id always been a fan of adoption.
And so he said, Yeah, that sounds cool.
So we ended up looking for an adoption agency, and we chose to do open adoption.
We were matched to our daughters birth mother probably about three or four months after we joined the agency.
She is the perfect cherry on top of our family.
But I wonder what parenting through the pandemic has been like for you and your family?
The short answer is that were doing fine.
The longer answer is that, three years ago, we lost our home to Hurricane Harvey.
I just think of one good thing that happened during day at the end of every evening.
Sometimes its big, and sometimes its small.
Like strangers coming to help us muck-out our house for nothing more than the pizza we made them eat.
There was just always something really quite lovely that happened every single day, even on the worst days.
So, there been some really good moments.
That said, I cant wait to go to a restaurant again one day.
Amen to that.
If I didnt believe that, Id just give up on life.
Thats part of what taking care of each other means.
Democracy doesnt end when you walk out of the voting booth.
Thatsbeforeelections, and thatsafterelections.
But I think what I talked about then was a much more passive thing than it is right now.
Now, its really about alsomakinglight and alsocreatinglight and alsoamplifyinglight and alsopushing towardthe light.
It is a daily practice that we all are called to do.
You cant get disillusioned.
You get disillusioned, they win.
You give up, they win.
You dont vote, they win.
We are called to keep doing that, to keep moving toward it.
you’re free to also follow her onher blog about making light.)
