Emma Thompson and Tindyebwa Agaba in 2008. Credit: Getty Images

I would totally go lesbian for Emma Thompson twenty times over. I love that woman so much, and it seems like every story I read about her, every interview I read with her, every film I watch with her, I just love her more and more. Put Gerard Butler, George Clooney, Daniel Craig, Angelina Jolie, Clive Owen, and Emma Thompson in front of me, and I’m going to go all geeky, obsessed, insane, frothing-at-the-mouth fangirl crazy on Emma, and only Emma. Well, I might give Clive the side-eye, but my heart would still belong to Emma.

This latest story about her just confirms my decades-long belief that she’s a goddess-empress in desperate need of a queendom. And I shall be her most loyal supplicant! Emma and her hottie husband Greg Wise informally adopted a teenage Rwandan refugee six years ago. Tindyebwa “Tindy” Agaba had been a child soldier during the Rwandan civil war, and it is believed that his birth mother and father, as well as his sister, are all dead. He had been brought to England with Care International, and Emma and Greg met him in 2003, at a Refugee Council party. What started out as a loose friendship between Emma’s family and Tindy grew into a family situation quickly. And Tindy wanted his “adopted” mom, dad, and little sister at his graduation (with honors) from Exeter University:

Six years ago she saved him from a life of unimaginable hardship, as a child soldier in war-torn Rwanda. And yesterday Emma Thompson beamed with pride as she watched her adopted African son graduate from university.

Wearing a cream suit and green satin jacket, the 50-year-old actress wrapped her arm around Tindyebwa Agaba as he clutched his ribbon-tied scroll. And along with Miss Thompson’s husband Greg Wise, the family proudly posed for the student’s official graduation photo.

Dressed in a traditional black cloak and mortarboard, 22-year-old Tindyebwa grinned with delight as Exeter University Chancellor Floella Benjamin presented him with his 2.1 honours degree in politics.

‘I admit I found my first year very difficult, the second year was less difficult and the third year was an absolute blast,’ he said after the ceremony.

‘So in a nutshell I’ve been from hell to heaven in three years.’

Miss Thompson and Mr Wise met Tindyebwa, known as Tindy for short, at a Refugee Council party in 2003, when he was 16 years old.

His father had died from AIDS when he was just nine and his mother and sister were listed as missing during the 1994 Rwandan genocide, having probably been abducted and raped by soldiers. Tindy was forced to serve as a child soldier, but charity Care International eventually helped him flee to Britain, where he met his adoptive parents.

‘He didn’t have much English, but we just got talking,’ Miss Thompson has previously said. ‘His experience had been awful and when he finally got to Britain after tremendous suffering, he told us the authorities didn’t believe him.’

‘He spent two nights sleeping rough before they finally did. It was the only time he considered suicide. He’s such a lovely, enchanting boy, so I said “Come and spend Christmas with us”. And he came for half the day. Slowly he became a permanent fixture, went on holidays with us and became part of the family.’

Adopting Tindy also helped the actress, who had tried and failed to have more children after undergoing IVF to conceive daughter Gaia, now eight years old. Wise has described the process as ‘brutal’ and admitted it left him requiring therapy.

‘You try your hardest and, if it doesn’t work, it’s not your fault,’ he said.

After learning to speak English, Tindy studied GCSEs and A-levels before winning a place at Exeter University. He said he chose Exeter because his surrogate family had told him of the ‘stunning beauty there, where they shot Sense And Sensibility’ – the 1995 film on which Miss Thompson met her 43-year-old husband.

From September, Tindy plans to attend London’s School of Oriental and African Studies, where he will study for a Masters Degree in Human Rights Law.

[From The Daily Mail]

My love for Emma is enough to sustain me, but how incredible is Greg Wise? I love a man who’s secure enough to speak openly about the struggles he and his wife had with conceiving. Last year, there were rumors that Tindy might be deported back to Rwanda, that his application for residency might be denied. Fortunately, it’s said that Emma and Greg fought hard through the courts to keep Tindy in England, and his application for was granted. I hope Tindy continues on with his studies at law school, and becomes the best human rights lawyer ever!