Brandon Stanton's Blog, page 471

"It’s Chopin.""Why Chopin?""My whole arm is covered with...

"It’s Chopin."
"Why Chopin?"
"My whole arm is covered with things that remind me of Poland."

"I majored in English and Philosophy, and minored in Religious...

"I majored in English and Philosophy, and minored in Religious Studies."

“Awesome, so what are you doing now?”

“I work at an office supply e-retailer.”

"When I called to tell her what was happening, I was met with...

"When I called to tell her what was happening, I was met with silence. We’ve been together long enough that I knew to just let her cry." -Duane

I was riding in a van with a television crew who was doing a...

I was riding in a van with a television crew who was doing a piece on HONY. The cameraman, Duane, was behind the wheel. At one point he casually remarked on how bad the traffic was in Ethiopia.
"Ethiopia?" I asked. "What story were you working on there?"
"It wasn’t a story," he replied. "We were picking up our daughter.

He then told me the most amazing story. He told me that he and his wife were not able to conceive. “But I’d always resisted the idea of adoption,” he said. “My wife wanted to adopt right away, but I was just never sure if I’d be able to fully love a child that wasn’t my blood.” So time went on, and they remained childless. 

Then one evening Duane was watching a television show with his wife. The show was about aid work in Ethiopia. “They were showing before-and-after photos,” he explained. “I remember this one girl. She was skin and bones. But she still had this amazing smile and spirit in her eyes. The aid workers rehabilitated her, and six months later, she looked like a normal little girl. Right then, I turned to my wife, and said: ‘I’m ready to adopt.’” 

But it wasn’t as easy as he’d hoped. “At first I thought we needed an infant,” Duane explained. “I just couldn’t imagine missing out on all those early moments of our child’s life.” But for healthy infants, the waiting list was years. “So then we went we moved up to three or four year olds.” But still, the waiting list was one to two years. “The only children you could get immediately were seven and up, and who had physical handicaps of some sort. I just didn’t think I was ready for it.”

But then Duane and his wife went on vacation. And toward the end of the trip, “after a few drinks,” Duane’s wife brought out a brochure from the adoption agency. One of the pictures showed an unsmiling seven year old girl, standing against the pink wall of an orphanage. She had been blinded in one eye. “That’s our daughter,” Duane said. 

Three years later after the Watkins adopted her, Chaltu has blossomed. She has grown over one foot, is fluent in English, and although blind in one eye, plays soccer, gymnastics, and basketball. She’s doing great at school, and has tons of friends. “She is the greatest daughter in the world,” Duane said.

“That’s an unbelievable story,” I told Duane. “Can I share it on HONY?”

“That’s fine with me,” he answered. Then he sort of stared at the ground for a second, shuffled his feet, and asked: “Would there be any possibility that you could help us raise the adoption fees to get her a brother? We’ve already found him, but aren’t financially ready yet.”

LET’S BRING RICHARD HOME:  Click here to donate!

"I’m trying to help my kids find their way.""What’s...

"I’m trying to help my kids find their way."
"What’s the most difficult part of that?"
"Letting them fail."

“There’s no better feeling than seeing the lightbulb go on. To...

“There’s no better feeling than seeing the lightbulb go on. To know that there’s a new idea in a child’s head, and that you’re the one that put it there. But if any teacher is being honest, they will tell you that there is a small percentage of students— that no matter how many times you go over something, they just won’t get it. And it burns you out. If you’re emotionally invested— and if you aren’t emotionally invested, you’re not doing it right— but if you are, it can burn you out.”

Yoda has detected a disturbance in The Force.

Yoda has detected a disturbance in The Force.

"I want to be a pilot."“What’s the toughest part...

"I want to be a pilot."

“What’s the toughest part about being a pilot?”

“Landing.”

"I perform in angle grinder shows."“What are...

"I perform in angle grinder shows."

“What are those?”

“I put on a metal outfit, then I grind the metal off it so that sparks shoot everywhere. Most of the time there are naked chicks involved.”

"I’m retired now. But I was the CEO of the NY State Energy...

"I’m retired now. But I was the CEO of the NY State Energy Research and Development Authority."
"What’s something about energy that a lot of people don’t know?"
"Energy is the main source of pollution. I don’t think enough people make that connection. They think of pollution as giant industries spewing smoke into the air, but in reality it mainly comes from the energy that we use everyday— driving our cars, lighting our houses, even that camera you’re using. We’re never going to stop needing energy, so we just have to find the most efficient ways of creating it.”