I woke up this morning to a phone call from Diane Sawyer’s producer. An hour and a half later there was a film crew at my house.
So. I guess we’re on World News with Diane Sawyer tonight? I think it’s at 6:30. [EDITED: NOT TONIGHT. LATER THIS WEEK] They are doing a follow-up to the orphans Diane visited right after the quake. (That would be Kembe in her arms. Can’t express how that felt – seeing him on the news happy and playing with his friends the night I got home from Haiti).
The film crew showed up, and mostly wanted to get some shots of our family just doing normal, everyday things. Don’t mind the camera.
I can assure you, all of the vignettes they captured are typical to everyday life here at the Howerton house. The immaculate house, the full-family basketball game, all six of us sitting around blissfully playing puzzles, Mark being home in the middle of the day . . . this is just how we do it.
We always eat lunch this way, lovingly gazing at the kids. Only usually Mark and I are in even more of an embrace. We didn’t want to seem cheesy so we kept it casual. Also, I am in pumps and jewelry by 10am every day.
That’s just how I roll . . . you know, keeping it real.
This guy does actually have a head. And it’s probably time for me to replace those two missing frames that Jafta knocked down when he was three.
Just before my close-up, the camera guy told me I looked exactly like someone he had just filmed, but he couldn’t place it. As he paused for a few seconds to recall, I was thinking, “please don’t let it be someone hideous, please don’t let it be someone hideous”. And then he said, “I know, it’s Kate Gossling” and started rolling tape. So if I look like I am crying a little during my interview, now you know why.
It wasn’t really an interview – the camera guy wanted me to respond to two questions, but they were about how he’s liking California, etc. Nothing hard-hitting or deep in terms of adoption, but it is what it is.
It’s hard to believe it has been six months since the earthquake. There has been so much progress, and yet there is such a long way to go. For Haiti, and for our family. I had wanted to sit down and write about that this morning . . . but instead I ate up my time pretending to be a patient, loving Stepford wife while threatening my kids within an inch of their life to act smiley and perfect. If you watch tonight, you can let me know how much you are buying my act.
