As the granddaughter of a Disney animator, Disney movies were a staple in my home. I grew up watching Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Snow White instantly fall in love with the handsome princes who crossed their paths. Love was a beautiful thing. It caused people to break into catchy songs and hum happily while dancing with woodland creatures. Though there were often obstacles that attempted to thwart their sudden devotion to one another, love always overcame and the stories ended happily ever after. This was what I thought love should be. I have scores of journal pages dedicated to “love at first sight,” though each of those “loves” was a different person, and our stories did not end happily ever after. Most of them just ended because after a week or two, one or both of us lost interest. By the time I got to college, I no longer believed in Love at First Sight.
I did eventually fall in love and was married, but it wasn’t until I became a mother that the concept of love at first sight rang true. The moment I walked into the hospital delivery room to find a tiny, 5 lb. baby boy, screaming his lungs out under the warmer, was the minute I knew that I could love someone from the first second I met them. Becoming a mother through adoption rekindled my belief in the theory of love at first sight.
Love at first sight plays many roles in the story of adoption. In the book, The Orphan Keeper, by Camron Wright, Taj Rowland shares his experience of being kidnapped from his home in India, and later adopted by an American couple in the United States. Taj’s whole world had been turned upside down and he spent the next twenty years trying to make sense of what had happened to him. One day, Taj came upon a photograph of a lovely Indian woman; his friend’s sister Priya. Taj was quite taken by her beauty and inquired as to her name and her whereabouts. He soon learned that she was living on the other side of the world with her parents, who were sure to reject him due to the fact that they believed in arranged marriages. Taj did not let those obstacles deter him and he boldly attempted to call and talk to her on the telephone, only to be told by her father, in no uncertain terms, to leave her alone. Once again, Taj was un-phased by this setback and decided to take another approach. This time he sent her a package. Inside was a CD of Air Supply’s Greatest Hits. A few months later, Taj was able to meet Priya and the rest is history. Their story is truly one of love at first sight. It follows the Disney pattern of overcoming obstacles and finding happiness together, and it even has a twist at the end. Through Priya, Taj was able to return to India and find the family he had lost.
Adoption in general, and Taj’s story specifically show that the theory of Love at First Sight can be real.
For more information on Taj’s story, visit www.theorphankeeper.com
