Dad of Interracial Family Admits He Almost Backed Out of Adopting His Black Daughter
While passing around family photos, a holiday tradition, Frank Somerville reflected on the first photo of his adopted daughter with his wife. Although the baby doesn't have much of an expression on, his wife is beaming. "We were both so excited," Frank wrote in a post to Facebook. "The smile on my wife's face pretty much says it all."
But as it turns out, Frank and his wife struggled before they were able to get excited about their daughter's adoption. "It's embarrassing to admit now, but we were scared at first. We didn't know what it would be like to have an interracial family. And we almost backed out." It wasn't until he heard a song on the radio — "One Thing" by Finger Eleven — that he felt ready to take on the responsibilities that would come with the adoption and raising an interracial family.
"It's one of the very few times where the lyrics from a song felt like they were talking to me. These are the lyrics:
'If I traded it all
If I gave it all away for one thing
Just for one thing
If I sorted it out
If I knew all about this one thing
Wouldn't that be something'Two days after hearing that song we adopted my daughter.
We traded it all.
We gave it all away for one thing.
Her."
"And she truly is something," he said. "She's the love of my life."