From the "Sidney Sun-Telegraph" (No permission asked)
The language of Fatherhood
Tonia Copeland tcopeland@suntelegraph.com
Published: Friday, June 15th, 2012
Talking to any toddler can be challenging, but imagine trying
to communicate with your 3-year-old son, who speaks a different
language. Sidney’s Donald Davis doesn’t have to imagine this scenario;
he lived it.
His son, Ian, was living in Poland during the time he was developing his language skills and he learned to communicate first in Polish.
“I basically had a kid I couldn’t converse with,” Davis said. “He only spoke in a whole other language. So we had to learn how to converse.”
That left Davis eventually trying to reconnect with Ian while breaking a language barrier when the tot was just 3 years old.
Davis met Lucy, the woman who would later become his wife, in Sterling, Colo., on March 28, 2002, after communicating with her solely via the Internet.
Although they met in Sterling, she lived in Poland and though they dated for two years, married and had their son Ian on March 4, 2008, throughout Lucy’s time in the U.S. her citizenship status was not right.
“We had a pretty normal life, but she always wanted to get that (her status) corrected,” Davis said.
With that in mind, on Oct. 20, 2010, when Ian was just over 2 years old, Lucy left for Poland to begin the process that would make her a legal U.S. citizen and Ian went with her.
“When they jumped on that plane in Denver, she was banned from the United States for 10 years,” Davis said.
The Davis’ requested forgiveness of the United States Embassy in Poland with a form that basically stated that they had gone about citizenship wrong but were attempting to correct it.
Immediately following her first interview in Poland, the 10-year ban was lifted, but the family was not immediately reunited.
“We had to wait for the whole process to go through and that takes months,” Davis said. “We were expecting six months.”
Davis missed being with Ian that Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas, and he missed being with his wife and son for New Year’s Day, but he especially missedbeing with Ian on his third birthday.
But on Valentine’s Day morning in 2011, Davis received an email stating that his family had won their case and Lucy could return to America once she applied for her card.
They didn’t return at that time but Davis flew to Poland, and while he said he had an amazing time, the best part of it was that he got to see Ian in person for the first time in nearly five months.
Davis spent two weeks in Poland enjoying the time with Ian, but eventually he had to return home, without his wife and son.
“Probably the hardest thing about all of it was when I was coming back. She had already done the round trip thing and had chosen April 11 as the date to come back,” Davis said. “I was there at the end of March and had to leave on March 30 so I had to say goodbye to him a second time. That was extremely hard.”
The family reunited less than two weeks later in the U.S. and since that time Davis has spent his time making up for those lost months and strengthening his bond with Ian.
“My biggest challenge is, because not only do I have a full-time job, but I’m also a full-time college student online, plus deejaying and announcing, the hardest thing I find is having quality time with him,” Davis said. “He is learning that when Dad and him are together, those are really special times and we need to make the most of those times.”
The father and son share a common interest in music and Davis said music often brings them together.
He and Ian spend time together listening to music and dancing or playing the drums together. It keeps them connected, and diminishes the separation anxiety Davis said both he and Ian sometimes still face.
“Whatever I am doing, I try to involve him,” Davis said.” He sees this bigger world that I’m involved in. Being a father, being Ian’s father is just … priceless.”
I also looked at his latest entry at his blog site and am wondering what he was thinking.. Either feeling sorry for himself or what but when Lucy lost their baby before the baby was born, he said they were four but now they are three.. That doesn't make sense to me but I talked to mom a little about it and I'm in the minority here.. But that is how I feel.. They were three and a nub, not four.. That' s not nice but that's me.. The asshole of the family..
PACHINKO (BH)
pachinko: the sound of a ricochet .. (not the original)
His son, Ian, was living in Poland during the time he was developing his language skills and he learned to communicate first in Polish.
“I basically had a kid I couldn’t converse with,” Davis said. “He only spoke in a whole other language. So we had to learn how to converse.”
That left Davis eventually trying to reconnect with Ian while breaking a language barrier when the tot was just 3 years old.
Davis met Lucy, the woman who would later become his wife, in Sterling, Colo., on March 28, 2002, after communicating with her solely via the Internet.
Although they met in Sterling, she lived in Poland and though they dated for two years, married and had their son Ian on March 4, 2008, throughout Lucy’s time in the U.S. her citizenship status was not right.
“We had a pretty normal life, but she always wanted to get that (her status) corrected,” Davis said.
With that in mind, on Oct. 20, 2010, when Ian was just over 2 years old, Lucy left for Poland to begin the process that would make her a legal U.S. citizen and Ian went with her.
“When they jumped on that plane in Denver, she was banned from the United States for 10 years,” Davis said.
The Davis’ requested forgiveness of the United States Embassy in Poland with a form that basically stated that they had gone about citizenship wrong but were attempting to correct it.
Immediately following her first interview in Poland, the 10-year ban was lifted, but the family was not immediately reunited.
“We had to wait for the whole process to go through and that takes months,” Davis said. “We were expecting six months.”
Davis missed being with Ian that Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas, and he missed being with his wife and son for New Year’s Day, but he especially missedbeing with Ian on his third birthday.
But on Valentine’s Day morning in 2011, Davis received an email stating that his family had won their case and Lucy could return to America once she applied for her card.
They didn’t return at that time but Davis flew to Poland, and while he said he had an amazing time, the best part of it was that he got to see Ian in person for the first time in nearly five months.
Davis spent two weeks in Poland enjoying the time with Ian, but eventually he had to return home, without his wife and son.
“Probably the hardest thing about all of it was when I was coming back. She had already done the round trip thing and had chosen April 11 as the date to come back,” Davis said. “I was there at the end of March and had to leave on March 30 so I had to say goodbye to him a second time. That was extremely hard.”
The family reunited less than two weeks later in the U.S. and since that time Davis has spent his time making up for those lost months and strengthening his bond with Ian.
“My biggest challenge is, because not only do I have a full-time job, but I’m also a full-time college student online, plus deejaying and announcing, the hardest thing I find is having quality time with him,” Davis said. “He is learning that when Dad and him are together, those are really special times and we need to make the most of those times.”
The father and son share a common interest in music and Davis said music often brings them together.
He and Ian spend time together listening to music and dancing or playing the drums together. It keeps them connected, and diminishes the separation anxiety Davis said both he and Ian sometimes still face.
“Whatever I am doing, I try to involve him,” Davis said.” He sees this bigger world that I’m involved in. Being a father, being Ian’s father is just … priceless.”
I also looked at his latest entry at his blog site and am wondering what he was thinking.. Either feeling sorry for himself or what but when Lucy lost their baby before the baby was born, he said they were four but now they are three.. That doesn't make sense to me but I talked to mom a little about it and I'm in the minority here.. But that is how I feel.. They were three and a nub, not four.. That' s not nice but that's me.. The asshole of the family..
PACHINKO (BH)
pachinko: the sound of a ricochet .. (not the original)
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