Yesterday, Scotland and I were hanging out at the library- taking a break from our hot house. I sat down on the couch in the children’s play area hoping to scan a few pages of the two books I checked out while Scotland played. There was a circle of 5 little black girls sitting on the playcenter mat. They ranged from probably 4-12 years old. They immediately took to Scotland coming over to tell him how cute he was. And likewise, he took to them. Within a few minutes when they went to sit around the small tables to read books he followed them over, asking one girl to help him on a chair so he could sit with them. There he sat for fifteen minutes or so, looking at books with them, and listening to about one page per book before asking for another while one of the girls read to him. He didn’t look to see if I was watching, but completely immersed himself in his new circle of friends. It seemed completely oblivious to the fact that they were four to twelve times his age.  These interactions are why I love Cleveland. I love that Scotland played with five black girls yesterday and a girl from Egypt a few weeks ago. I love that the color of skin doesn’t seem to phase him. We are the minority in our neighborhood, a group of black kids congregate in front of our house every day after school- Scotland often watches them. We have three adopted grandma’s here, all are African American. Just as I’m grateful for the exposure to American poverty that my Mother gave me, I’m grateful that living in Cleveland has given Scotland the opportunity to interact and love people of all shapes, sizes and colors!