At 04:07 PM 3/26/2010, Peter Gluck wrote:
Dear Abd,
I am starting the weekend rush to write my great editorial for the
issue no 396 of my wekly newsletter Info Kappa ( I am working for an
American Romanian ISP UPC Romania)
The subject is "primitive" and I will use much of the book "Caveman
Logic" But other things too.
By the way, I like very much what your littel dughter has said it is
bright and I will quote it in a future issue. I will ask you to tell
your daughter;s name and how do you want the idea should presented.
It is a great example of the wisdom of children.
Her name is Birtukan Simone Lomax, "Birtukan," meaning "Orange,"
being the name she had from her first family, and Simon being her
grandfather's name, which we feminized so she could keep it and not
seem weird. She was born into the Kamabata tribe, and is now learning
to speak, in addition to excellent English, Mandarin Chinese, and
assuming that all continues on track, she'll be native speaker fluent
and literate in English and Chinese by the eighth grade. We wish we
could give her that in her native language, Kambatigna, but,
unfortunately, there are no resources here, but Chinese could be very
useful in Ethiopia if she decides to go back when she grows up, China
is the number one investor in Ethiopia. She's also advanced beyond
her years in athletics, she taught herself to swing on monkey bars at
about four years old, she kept doing it, occasionally falling, and
picking herself up and trying again, until she got it down cold . She
got blisters on her hands and did not stop. She applies the same
energy to learning the violin. Her sister, two years older, is still
ahead, but has to work to keep there! (Her sister, from China, is
spectacular all on her own, but today is Birtukan's story.)
I'm not releasing photographs, but she has tribal markings that would
allow someone knowledgeable to tell where she is from, and she is
seriously beautiful.
Can you guess that I'm proud of my daughter? She is also, as you
might guess, as willful as they come, she can be a handful. She
cannot be broken. It's my job to help her figure out how to cooperate
with others when they want one thing and she wants something else.
She's on track, I'd say. I wouldn't change a thing about her, and I'm
blessed to have her in my life. At 65.
