Love Redefined

So I have something to admit to you. I have fallen in love. His name is Austin, and he’s just over a year old. His parents are absolutely my best Ugandan friends, and he is mine. My baby. My Austin.

Things weren’t always so peachy with Austin, though. At first, he was very afraid of me. Having just turned 1, I wasn’t surprised. Babies at this age are very, very attached to their primary care givers, for Austin, his mom. He hardly wanted to leave her lap. He wouldn’t let me touch him, let alone hold him, and he was very obviously cautious of me. “He is afraid of your hair,” I was told. For some reason, Ugandans seem to think babies are afraid of European hair. Not our skin color, our hair.

Imagine you are a baby. Your whole live, that one whole year of life, you have only seen people who are dark-skinned. Sure, there is a bit of variation in the tone, but they are all dark. Logically, people are supposed to be dark. Then, one day, this light-skinned thing comes around. They can’t be a person because people are dark. But the thing talks and walks and moves like a person. Maybe something is wrong with them. They’re not dark. Now the light-skinned thing is trying hold you, trying to comfort you like mom does. It’s just not right. You begin to cry, afraid for your life…. Or at least that’s how I imagine a baby’s mind works.

So as you can imagine, I was expecting for Austin to be wary of me. It didn’t hurt my feelings when he didn’t want to be held; I understood. Over the first two months I was living in Fort Portal, we got to know each other. He and his mom would come over, and we would play cards or talk. He went with us to the market each week. Although he wasn’t talking yet, he actually seemed to understand when I spoke to him. (His parents are from completely different parts of the country, so they’re raising him with English.) Through time, he became comfortable enough to sit in my lap and play with me, but always with mom right there. By the time Easter rolled around, I was very sad to say goodbye to my man. I didn’t even know if he would remember me after a four-day weekend, considering we had seen each other almost every day for the last two months.

He fell asleep with that capati in his mouth
a few minutes later, the cutie.

When I came home from Easter, wearied from the long trip to Masindi, I spent the night alone, making my absence a whole five days. When I went to greet him and his family, his face absolutely lit up, and mine too. Not only did he recognize me, but he refused to sit with his mom, demanding to be held by me. It was easily one of the best days of the year so far. Shortly after this reunion, Austin and his mom went for a trip to Lira in northern Uganda. In theory, this would only be a few weeks, but nearly two months later, they’re about to return. I’m very, very excited about the return of my baby, to see how he has grown and matured. His dad tells me he’s walking on his own now and almost talking. I can’t wait to get a hug and see how it’s been!

Colors are not "gendered" in Uganda!
Pink is for everyone!