As I’m spending this week focusing on the various elements of motherhood that I love, from belly buttons to bruised and bloodied hearts, I wanted to share this with you because sometimes mothers and children are made for each other, even if they’re not made from each other. Feel free to come back on Friday and share your own answer to the question, “Moms matter because.”

This is my first born and my baby brother.

Jackson and Karabo.

Nose to nose, head to head, hand to hand, they are the closest of friends. They consider themselves brothers to the core.

When he was born Jackson got a beautiful certificate from the US consulate in Johannesburg celebrating and recognizing a US citizen born abroad.

Karabo was nearly six before he got his life changing certificate. After we’d considered him part of our family for years, a court finally agreed and stamped it on his adoption certificate.

After all the celebrating, he came down late at night to talk to his mom. She showed him the special piece of paper. He held it in his hands. And she told him that because of this certificate no one could take him away from us. We were all family. Forever.

Holding the flimsy piece of paper in his hands he looked up at his mom of the last four years and asked, “But what if the certificate gets lost?”

She didn’t miss a beat.

“Oh my baby, I’ll make a million copies of that certificate – you will never get lost.”

And he believed her. Because she’s his mom.