Wow, wow, wow, Andrea, thanks so much for sharing this! I, too, am in an awesome and loving interracial marriage (I am the Anglo one, and my hubbie is Navajo). We find so much richness in our combination, and it does expand our minds, and our hearts, to so much possibility in the world.

Our first little munchkin together, Josh, is often mistaken for being adopted Chinese. People have asked me in the grocery store "where does he come from?" to which I smile and point to my tummy. My favorite experience was the Chinese couple who stopped me (also in a grocery store) and asked 'is your baby Chinese?' They told me the life story of their daughter, who is obviously Chinese, who married an Anglo man, and had a baby who apparently looked exactly like my own son Josh. They also told me how worried they were that their daughter didn't get married till almost 40 .. details I am sure she would be horrified that her parents were sharing with a complete stranger in the grocery store.

How humbling to think that just 40 years ago, people suffered great indignities and jailtime over loving each other.

I look forward to the time when ALL couples who love each other will have no blocks, legal or otherwise, to their marriage -- gay, straight, interracial or whatever. Love heals, and that is what we need more of in the world.

Beautiful post!

-Pam

This is a wonderful post, but don't be so quick to paint everyone in the United States with the same brush.

Interracial marriage was legal in most of the 50 states by 1967 - legal in 33 of 50, with the 17 where it was not legal all Southern states.

It was legal in the state of Pennsylvania as far back as 1780! My own interracial grandparents married legally in the state of Washington in 1940.

While it's a crime that it took the rest of the country much longer to catch up, not every state in the Union had the same laws.

Love is the power. And how fantastic that you bring this aspect of it to our attention. I wonder where I deny love due to social convention, even in small ways. Where do I stay in the closet due to my concerns of what family, friends or status quo may think, say or do? Where am I ripping myself off of the brilliant love that shines forth from me due to ideas of what others will think?

How do we know love is the power? When we deny it we suffer.

Thank you for shining brightly the love you are and focusing attention on the right to love as we do.

With Love,
Dale

I am the product of interracial marriage the 1970's in the Midwest. My mother is of Finnish descent and my father was African American and Native American. My mom had it very hard, but she was smart, never bitter, and handled ugly situations with poise and grace. I will never be ashamed of who I am or who I love because of her legacy.

I am also in an interracial marriage. My husband is mostly of Western European descent. I never thought about how my background could help me look at my business. Thank you for the valuable insight.

a - first off, i wish you 'get well'.

secondly, just let me say that 40 years ago i wouldn't have had the pleasure of knowing you and being blessed by your 'soul' and it's incredible impact on me and my business - and feeling as close to you as if we were sitting next to each other chatting!

i saw the loving day love story recently and wanted to mention it on my blog (whose focus is nurturing lesbian relationships - itself a topic that is about real flesh-and-blood people who are just asking for the opportunity to have all everyone else has), but being 'info overwhelmed' as usual, i guess i got caught up in something else and forgot.

i am SO doing what you are referring to in today's post - my love of love has led me to create what i am doing today and i wouldn't want it any other way. nothing is more pleasurable, meaningful and loving than reminding folks to stay on that lovin' path....

xoxoxo, b

Hooray for love! And a frog!

Thanks for your beautiful words and the terrific exercise which made me laugh out loud. Would you believe: on my homepage, right in my "elevator pitch" no less, are the words "and a duck".

One wouldn't think that adding a duck would do much for a "training people to release and replace their habits practice", but people love the duck. And my business mentor always says, "trust the duck".

To which I will now add: AND A FROG!

Thanks!

Thank you Andrea for reminding us of the beauty in diversity and the power of love to overcome prejudice.

I remember watching TV as a young girl when schools in the US south were being integrated and black people were registering to be able to vote. I couldn't believe the hatred on the faces of the people jeering the young girl or the police unleashing fire hoses on the people registering.

We've seen do much good come to pass in the past 40 years and I trust it will get even better in the next 40. Your newsletter is a testimony to the value you provide and I salute you for choosing to love and marry your husband despite family disapproval.

Best wishes on a very speedy recovery from your surgery.

Now, I am going to think about how much I love coaching and a frog. LOL
Warmest regards,
Rosemary Heenan

Yes, there is a time to step up and live what you believe is yours to live - as a human being. Our differences are the unique qualities that bring about true peace when respected and loved. Sometimes the fight is in court, sometimes in your community, sometimes at your job, school, wherever there are "controller-bees" well you go through the fire -- the amazing thing is, like gold, you become purer and stronger and more determined -- so maybe the yukkies are simply there for you to exercise your right to be with -- as in kick them out of your way, or walk over, or jump or leap or crawl, or cry or scream, or go to court -- whatever it takes -- be and live who you are.

Andrea, what a beautiful story. When I was in my teens back in the 50s I fought for women's rights. In the 70s I lived in Mississippi and fought for Civil rights. In 1990 our 17 year old son told us he is gay. He had already been with his partner for at least a year and we just thought they were good friends. Then when Canada legalized marriage they were married in Canada by the same clergywoman who performed the first same sex wedding in Canada. In many ways Canada is ahead of the United States. But the religious bigots in America are losing out thanks to people like you who challange the traditions of the past.

That's why I like being a Life Coach so that I can help people overcome their traditions, fears, and inhibitions and become the people they were meant to be in the one universe.

Andrea, your story reminds me of being in Mississippi in the 70s. I was advisor for our international students. The Chinese group was very close knit and very supportive of one another - until - a Chinese student from the mainland came to Mississippi State. That lone Chinese student was totally rejected by the other Chinese. Another time a student from India who was from a different cast than all the other Indian students was totally orstrasized to the point where he continually thought of suicide. I had to get his sponsor to get him out of Mississippi before he went through with his threat of suicide. Seeing what people like you do to lift up one another is very rewarding. Keep up the good work.

Wow #2. I love this idea of combining two things we love. Like the old Reese's peanut paddy commercial -- someone who loves peanut butter runs into someone enjoying their favorite chocolate and presto, a new candy bar is created.

It's also what I did back around 1994. I loved coaching (and still do). I also loved the idea of people knowing their purpose. Both coaching and clarity of purpose had made a huge difference in my life, so I combined them and became one of the first life purpose coaches in the world. And have never regretted it.

Now... what's next? What's the next love combination? Hummmm, good pondering ahead.

BRAD

Great post!
I found your blog through Kim Nishida's Blog. My husband and I are an interracial combination as well. I am white and my husband is Asian from Nepal.

We have learned so much from each other about our different cultures. It has been an amazing union and we always remember to remind our two little younguns the role Dr. Martin Luhter King, Jr. played in their being born.

Indeed, let us all now have a dream that all loving couples, no matter their race, sexual orientation, culture, or anything else be allowed to marry each other.

Interracail/gay/intercultural/interfaith/inter... marriage and a Frog. I like the sound of that! :)

Rachel

Andrea,
I am just now reading this, as I have been out of the country. My husband and I have been married for 31 years and dated before then for 6. He is a muslim, Iranian, CEO with a PhD in microelectronics. I am an Air Force brat who lived most of my life in Japan, Baptist, with a BA in Journalism and am now a coach. We have weathered every possible challenge you can image from the Iran hostage crisis in 78 to the Islamic revolution and fall of the Shah, immigration, the total turning of all friends against us (save one) from our marriage. We have modeled how it can work and where the balance of these two very different cultures comes together to make a happy home, life styles and relegious beliefs comingle. Our friends are not whom you would think. They range from clergy to prime ministers to CEOs and celebrities. We flow with ease in and out of every class of acquaintances and are at ease at a Yankees Baseball Game or a State Dinner in another country. We do have two beautifl daughters. When people see them they comment always at the beautiful mix in their faces and their Persian names which suit their temperments perfectly. They are both very accomplished in their own right and grown and very successful. We have been blessed many times over. My "ideal client" is the naturalized forgein national with an advanced degree who is challenged by the lifestyle and cultural adaptation while living in the world of doing business in the US. I speak their language and I know exactly where they come from and I get great results due to my personal life walk.
Janice