Zoe’s first word in English was “Koala.” That was exactly three years ago at the Guanzhou zoo.

Today we took our new son (“ZJ” has stuck as his new name) to the Zoo, with Zoe and Uncle Bryan and the older kids. Zoos draw out children in a special way and the Guanzhou zoo is great. Easily as impressive as the San Diego zoo. If not more. It’s home to new triplet Panda bears this year.

Adopting a 9 year old boy is W-A-A-A-A-Y different than adopting a toddler. Zoe didn’t walk, didn’t crawl, didn’t feed herself, didn’t sit up. All the symptoms of being raised in an “institution.” She was shy and wary. She regarded us with fear and suspicion.

For days, the only person she trusted was MamaLaura until Zander started playing with her and drawing her out.

I thought to myself, “Zoe is an introvert. She’s like her mom. Internal processor. Doesn’t wear her feelings on her sleeve.”

Man was I ever wrong. She never met a person she didn’t like. Flaming extrovert.

And… within six weeks she was feeding herself, sitting up, crawling, walking, and wreaking toddler havoc all over the house.

There are 24 adopting families in our travel group. Most of the kids have special needs. Deafness, cleft palate, mental delay issues, albinism, a range. One of the moms commented that kids only mature 1/3 as fast in an orphanage as they do in a normal family.

I told her, if that’s true, just add brothers and sisters to a kid who is ready, and their new family matures them at 3X normal speed.

Today, nobody would ever guess that Zoe had “come from behind.”

ZJ likewise is picking up English words left and right. He surprised us yesterday with his mastery of Yo-yo. He’s equally adept on an iPad. Oh, and he loves hugs.

He comes to me for a hug about once an hour. Love to get picked up for a big extended squeeze. It’s like he’s making up for lost time (no doubt he is).

And… ZJ was good and ready for a family. There hasn’t been an “adjustment period.” This morning he got out of bed, ambled over to me and came for his hug. Then another 5 minutes later.

The orphanage prepared him well. We’d written him a letter describing our family, and they had translated it into Chinese for him. He knew who we were and he was excited to meet us. It’s been sort of like picking up the neighbor kid and taking him on vacation.

It’s kind of weird getting up in the morning, peeking into the next room and… there’s my new Chinese son, sleeping next to my American son. “Time to put your shoes on and get out the door” is the same complicated production whether your kids understand English or not :^)

Just like Zander drew Zoe out, ditto with ZJ. Zander was our Marshall family ambassador.

Being an adoptive parent has lent me a MAJOR insight to how human beings operate. It’s shaped my storytelling, my relationship with my customers, my very understanding of what people yearn for.

The queen says, “Oh, how I wish that I had a daughter that had skin white as snow, lips red as blood, and hair black as ebony”.

Soon after that, the queen gives birth to a baby girl who has skin white as snow, lips red as blood, and hair black as ebony. They name her Snow White. As soon as the child is born, her mother the queen dies.

Orphan story.

A widowed prince has a daughter, Cinderella. She’s the subject of envy and anger from his new wife. The girl is ensnared by her governess in killing her stepmother and convincing her father to marry her.

The governess succeeds, and then brings forward six daughters of her own, who abuse Cinderella, sending her into the kitchen to work as a servant.

Orphan story.

Bambi loses his mother to a hunter’s bullet and mourns her loss.

Orphan story.

My buddy Joshua Russell is a film producer and teaches screenwriting at DePaul University. Josh sez:

“If you want to make your audience feel empathy for a character, inflict him with a wound. Take away a parent so he becomes an orphan – or at least half orphan.

Have you noticed? Nearly every Disney story is an orphan story. It’s Disney’s #1 formula.

Disney’s not the only one. There’s Pixar: Andy’s favorite toy is Woody, and in Toy Story Three, Andy goes off to college and leaves his toys in a box. The toys fear Andy has outgrown them. They escape and decide to climb in a donation box for the Sunnyside Daycare.

At the climax of the movie, Woody and the other toys are then shoved onto another conveyor belt heading to an incinerator. Lotso coldly taunts them: “You guys are daycare center rejects and nobody wants you anymore!” It’s the long dark night of the discarded toy’s soul.

Orphan story.

Luke Skywalker gets his hand cut off by Darth Vader. Then Vader reveals his true identity: “LUKE, I AM YOUR FATHER. Join me and the Dark side of the Force, where we can rule together!”

Star Wars is an Orphan story too.

 

 
Harry Potter’s parents die shortly after he’s born and he’s raised by Muggles. Only years later does he begin to uncover his true identity.

Orphan story.

In the story of the Garden of Eden, the man and woman shatter their connection with God, discovering their nakedness and getting cast out of the garden.

Orphan story.

Frodo’s parents died and he was raised by Bilbo Baggins in the Shire.

Orphan story.

– – – > WHY ARE ALL POPULAR MOVIES ORPHAN STORIES??? < – – –

If you are halfway serious about marketing, copywriting, storytelling and human engineering….

You MUST understand why.

You MUST know the answer to this question.

More tomorrow.